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PLATE I. 




PINUS PINASTER. 

The Pinaster, or Cluster Pine. — (See Page 248.) 



HEDGES AND EVERGREENS. 



A COMPLETE MANUAL 

FOE THE 

Cttltitatifltt, fruiting, attir IJJanajjMMt 

OF 

ALL PLANTS SUITABLE FOR AMERICAN HEDGING; 

ESPECIALLY THE 

MACLURA, OR OSAGE ORANGE. 



FULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS OF PLANTS, 
IMPLEMENTS, AND PROCESSES. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A TREATISE ON EYERGREEKS; 

THEIE DIFFEEENT VARIETIES — THEIE PROPAGATION, TRANSPLANTIN G-, AND CTTLTTTBE 
IN THE UNITED STATES. 



JOHN A7WARDER, M.D., 

EDITOR OF WESTERN HORTICULTURAL REVIEW, PEESIDENT OF THE CINCINNATI 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, ETC. 



Keto Yorft : 
A. O. MOORE, 

AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHES, 140 FULTON STREET. 

1858. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, 

By A. O. MOOEE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. 






^. ~ w 



®(i.e CmritWHti fjartataal $mtty, 

As to the School of Development of my Knowledge of Horticultural, 

POMOLOGICAL, AND EURAL AFFAIRS, 

THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 

Cincinnati, 1S58. 



PREFACE. 



To the readers of this Essay on Hedging, I have 
a few words of advice and explanation to snbmit. 
The subject is one of immense importance to the 
future of this country, inasmuch as it is an efficient 
arm of the great agricultural interest. The people 
of these United States have settled the question of 
distinct inclosures, whether wisely or otherwise, in 
the affirmative. Fences of some kind being one 
of the recognized institutions of our country, and 
the majority of our best farms being destitute of 
rock for walls, and being rapidly divested of tim- 
ber for wooden fences, foreign materials, whether of 
boards or iron, present themselves as candidates for 
public favor : and I here beg to offer that agreeable 
alternative — the useful, the economical, the practi- 
cal, and at the same time, the ornamental, Live- 
Fence or Hedge. 

The reasons for presenting myself in this manner 
before my brother farmers are : — First, the great 



IV PREFACE. 

importance of the subject to the country, and the 
desire to have the matter properly understood. Sec- 
ondly, the apprehension that many persons throughout 
the land are laboring under incorrect notions upon 
the subject of Hedging. Thirdly, that the directions 
for the modes of procedure are often deficient in 
practical detail, and not only very contradictory, 
but scattered through the evanescent journals of the 
day, and rarely accessible to the agricultural reader. 
Fourthly, that many of the ephemeral productions 
which attempt to instruct the young hedger are fal- 
lacious and erroneous, and are therefore likely not 
only to mislead the uninitiated, but also to bring 
discredit upon the whole subject. Fifthly and lastly — 
for you must think me already well fortified with 
reasons — my friends urged me to the discharge of 
this duty, and I willingly perform the labor. 

This important part of the preface being disposed 
of, it may be further stated, that though I have 
never laid claim to the distinguished honor of being 
the " Father of the Maclura Hedge," I have always 
been an admirer of Live-Fences- — have for years 
repeatedly written and spoken upon this topic for 
the agriculturists of my country — and, moreover, 
have planted and tended a good deal of Hedge, and 
expect to continue so doing; and yet, though an 
earnest advocate for this kind of fence, am perfectly 



PREFACE. V 

disinterested, having never sold a hedge-plant in my 
life, and expecting, while I have a rod to plant, that 
I shall continue a purchaser. 

I should here acknowledge my obligations to those 
authors from whose pages and writings I have now 
or heretofore drawn more or less extensively, in mak- 
ing up the compendium of opinions about to be set 
forth. The boast of originality is not one of my 
weaknesses; for so singular a sponge is the human 
mind, and so treacherous is the memory, that we 
never can know as to the originality of aught beyond 
the bare record of an observation — whether the 
deductions we have consequently made, be really our 
own, or whether we may not have absorbed them 
from another, at some forgotten period, is all guess- 
work ; and too often we see men, like Mr. Greening-, 
in Talpa, who have coldly received our suggestions 
in past days, presenting them boldly as their own at 
some future period. With regard to certain prin- 
ciples in hedging, which early attracted my attention 
so forcibly as to induce their distinct exposition, this 
remark has been rendered feelingly true by many a 
Mr. Greening, who at first even forcibly combated 
and rejected the propositions, which they now, I am 
glad to know, bring forward triumphantly as unques- 
tionable truths ; and for which they are unwilling to 
admit any paternity but their own. 



VI PREFACE. 

In the preparation of this work, I have been unwil- 
ling to trust entirely to my own personal observations ; 
although, having enjoyed very extended opportuni- 
ties for seeing what others have done in many parts 
of our country, and having been familiar with hedges 
from my infancy, and an operator for some years past 
upon my own grounds, I might be considered a com- 
petent witness. I have therefore consulted all the 
authorities at command, among which my indebted- 
ness should be acknowledged to the several State 
Agricultural Societies' valuable Reports, to Johnson's 
" Farmer's Encyclopedia," to McMahon's " Gar- 
dener," to the " Patent Office Reports," to the " Ma- 
nual" of E. Sayees, to the "Encyclopedias," to "Col- 
man's Reports," to The Western Agriculturist, to The 
Western Farmer and Gardener, and to various Agri- 
cultural Periodicals — among which, those most fre- 
quently instructive in this department of Rural Econ- 
omy are : The Prairie Farmer, of Illinois ; The 
Cultivator, and The Farmer, of Ohio ; and The Hor- 
ticulturist. Also especially to the " Prize-Essays " of 
C. R. Overman, of Illinois, and of Jas. McGrew, of 
Ohio ; besides several shorter articles issued by those 
engaged in the sale of plants and seed. To the 
authors of all of which I tender my sincere thanks, 
trusting that if they should happen to recognize their 
sentiments in these pages, set forth without the credit 



PREFACE. Vll 

they may think due unto themselves, they will con- 
sider this a sufficient acknowledgment, and be satis- 
fied that my attempts to diffuse valuable information 
will also extend their useful efforts to a wider circle. 

That all may strive for the diffusion of useful know- 
ledge, is the desire of 



THE AUTHOR. 



Aston, Sunset Avenue, 
North Bend, 



it Avenue, ) 
1, 0. 185*7. J" 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAET I. — HEDGE MANUAL. 

PACffi 

Preface iii 

CHAPTER I. 

General Introduction — History of Hedging—Reasons for Hedg- 
ing — Economy — Influence on Climate — Morality 13 

CHAPTER II. 

Selection of Hedge Plants — Hedges for various purposes 23 

CHAPTER III. 

Selection of Plants, continued — the Shelter, Screen, Barrier, and 

Ornamental Hedge 41 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Madura Hedge — Why it has Failed — Seed, Sprouting, Plant- 
ing, Taking up the Plants, Sorting, Wintering, Puddling, 
Trenching-in, Packing 50 

CHAPTER V. 

Hedge-Making — How to do it — Preparation of the Hedge-Row — 
Setting the Plants — Distance — Culture the First Year — Shall 
the Hedge be Trimmed ? 67 

CHAPTER VI. 

Hedge-Making, continued — Second Year — Replanting — Culture — 
Trimming — Third Year — Culture, Mulching, Finishing up, 
and Seeding — Implements— Shape of the Hedge. .......... 83 






X TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

Fourth and Future Years — the Perfect Hedge — the Finality — 
Root-Pruning — the Comparative Cost — Climatic Effects — 
Correcting Defective Hedges 102 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Objectors Answered — False Methods — European Plans unfit for 

Us 120 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Philosophy of Pruning — Summer and Winter Trimming — 

Application to the Hedge 132 

CHAPTER X. 

Jurisprudence of Fences — the Laws of Maine, Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, 
Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Iowa, "Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, California — Re- 
marks — Advice — Proposition — English Usage , . . . . 143 

APPENDIX. 

Resolution of Ohio State Agricultural Society — Communication of 
James McGrew — Statement of A. H. Ernst — Communication 
from D. Landreth — Letter from Prof. J. B. Turner — Letter 
from Daniel Gano — Letter from Sleeper & Lindly 169 



PAKT II.— EVERGREENS. 

Introduction 223 

Evergreens — Ornament — Economy — Transplanting — Time for 

Planting — Pruning 223-229 

Evergreen Hedges 240 

Catalogue op Evergreens 243 

Index 287 



LIST OF PLATES. 

PLATE I. Pinus pinaster (Frontispiece). 

II. Crataegus oxycanthus — Buckthorn. 

III. Laurus nobilus — Noble Laurel. 
Crastcegus crus-galli — Cockspur. 

IV. Gleditschia triacanthos — Honey-Locust. 
V. Madura auriantica — Osage Orange. 

VI. Pinus laricio— Larch-Pine (Frontispiece to " Evergreens"). 
VII. Pinus sylvestris — Scotch Pine. 
VIII. Abies excelsa — Norway Spruce. 
IX. Abies alba— the White Spruce Fir. 

Abies Smithiana — Himalayan Spruce Fir. 
X. Picea balsamifera— Balm of Gilead, Silver Fir. 

Abies Douglasii — Douglas Spruce Fir. 
XL Picea pectinata — European Silver Fir. 
XII. Magnolia grandijlora. 
Magnolia glauca. 



LIST OF ENGRAVINGS IN TEXT. 

PAGE 

FIG. I. Yearling Plant, 69 

tj u " 84 

III. Growth of Second Summer, 85 

IY. " Third " 90 

V. Pyramidal Cutting, Third Year, 93 

VI. Slashing-Knives, 96 

VII. Perfect Hedge, 104 

VIII. Hedge trained in Lattice Form, 127 

IX. Looping Plan of Hedge, 128 

X. End- View of Badly-trimmed Hedge, 129 

XL Net-Work Hedge, 188 

XII. Hex aquifolium, *'" 

274 

XIII. Hex opaca, ' 

XIV. Rhododendron catawbiense, 27 ' 

278 
XV. Kalmia latifolia, ....>• 



HEDGING. 



CHAPTEE I. 

General Introduction — History — Reasons for Hedging — Economy 
— Beauty — Shelter — Protection — Effect on Climate — Morality. 

Live-Fences, or — as they are commonly called — 
Hedges, are a means of inclosure that belongs to an 
advanced state of civilization : hence we rarely find 
them in a new country; unless we except such por- 
tions of our Western prairies as have been suddenly 
populated by a people highly advanced in agricul- 
tural progress, and, in this respect, very different from 
the usual character of the early pioneers, who were 
obliged slowly to conquer the red man, and the un- 
broken forests of other regions. 

We do not always find this kind of inclosure, how- 
ever, as an attendant upon the highest state of agri- 
culture ; for there may be circumstances under which 
hedging would not be advisable. As a general pro- 
position, where the farms are very small, and need to 
be much subdivided into small fields, the hedge occu- 
pies too large a proportion of the soil. Thus, in France, 
in Belgium, in parts of Great Britain, and in some 
other countries, where the highest culture prevails. 



14 HEDGING. 

we find that the people are content to hold their fields 
in common, or with only a pathway between their 
several allotments of land. In most parts of the world, 
however — high civilization to the contrary — we find 
man's selfish nature disposes him to fence out intrud- 
ers : and our venerable ancestors in Great Britain, 
having always understood the ethics of meum and 
timm, have for centuries been careful to inclose their 
possessions ; and, as other material for fencing was 
scarce in the cultivated portions of the country, 
hedges were generally adopted, and are the most 
common means of subdivision: we, their descend- 
ants, equally regard our individuality ; and our people 
have universally desired to preserve their own pro- 
perty inclosed from intrusion, whether by erecting the 
cumbrous zig-zag worm -fence, or some other wooden 
structure, or — in those portions of the country where 
stones abound — by piling them up in substantial 
walls, centennial works, defying the tooth of Time. 

In some portions of our Western country, essentially 
agricultural, and where the grain-growing interest 
largely preponderates over the grazing and stock- 
raising, it is now seriously proposed to enact laws 
providing for the inclosure of all domestic animals, in 
order to avoid the expense of fencing in the extensive 
grain-fields ; in this, the grain-growers of Northern 
Illinois are but imitating the French, Belgians, and 
other nations in countries where fencing materials 
are no longer attainable. In some parts of Illinois, I 
believe, already such a custom or law prevails — every 
farmer being obliged to keep his stock within his own 
inclosures. In the neighborhood of many of our 



REASONS FOE HEDGING. 15 

Eastern cities, also, where the highest culture exists, 
the fences are mere formalities, and the gates at the 
entrances of splendid lawns and parks, that contain 
the most beautiful plantations, are frequently left open 
for months together — so entirely safe are they from 
the trespasses of cattle in the roads. 

In the Western Agriculturist — an excellent com- 
pendium, issued under the direction of the Hamilton 
County Agricultural Society, in 1830 — under the 
article " Fences," some passages occur which show, 
that even then the expense and inefficiency of fences 
were severely felt, and legislation was called for. 
The writer quotes one of the most scientific farmers 
of the county, to the following effect : " Without 
fear of contradiction from our experienced farmers, 
I pronounce this to be the leak which prevents the 
filling up of our cup of bliss : as things are man- 
aged in the Western country, it is worse than a 
leak; it is a sore, a blotch, the source of perpetual 
discontent, the ' fretting leprosy ' of the land. Tell«^ 
us how this is to be cured, and your book shall be 
immortal — ■ se?nper honos, nomenque tuu?n, laudesque 
manebunt? * * * The mode of inclosing, as here 
practiced, and the urgent necessity there is for the 
strongest fortifications, in consequence of the barbar- 
ous practice of suffering stock of all kinds to run at 
large, keeps the farmer poor, and groveling, and igno- 
rant, and creates more rustic quarrels than any other 
thing — whisky not excepted." The writer then urges 
the necessity of penal enactments against the running 
at large of all kinds of stock. His suggestions have 
had little effect upon our law-makers. More than a 



16 



HEDGING. 



quarter of a century has elapsed, and the same state 
of things exists : except that my excellent neighbor 
has fortified himself by erecting some of the best walls 
and fences anywhere to be seen; and he has con- 
tracted for a maclnra hedge on one of his boundary- 
lines. 

For the most of us farmers and planters in this 
wicked world, then, it is found necessary to erect 
barriers against our neighbors — and thus it has been 
from remote antiquity. Nor are hedges a modern 
invention : in the Bible we read of the vineyard being 
hedged about; Homer tells us that the old Laertes 
was planting a hedge, when his son Ulysses returned 
from the Trojan War. The old Latin writers tell us 
of thorns used for making live-fences ; hawthorn 
hedges were used in Italy in the fourteenth century, 
and in England they have been used since the times 
of the Romans. Indeed, the hedge is one of the most 
interesting features of the European landscape, and 
is a fruitful topic for the poet — who here finds, in its 
shade, its flowers, and fruit, as well as in the gentle 
florets, and animated birds which are fed and pro- 
tected by it, so many rural sights and sounds where- 
with to embellish and enliven his verse. 

The advantages and the necessity for this kind of 
inclosure will depend upon the character and con- 
dition of the country. Where timber of good quality 
abounds, or where easy access may be had by water 
or railroads to a lumber region, or where stone is an 
incumbrance to the soil, these materials may be pre- 
ferred for fencing; so, also, where small farms and 
limited inclosures prevail, live-fences may not be 



ECONOMY. 17 

desirable; but, wherever the ruthless axe has pro- 
duced its hayoc among the primeval forest growth, 
upon a fertile soil, which is kept under the tillage of 
the plow, with no mountain-ridges near, as a reserve 
for forest growths, the scarcity of timber soon becomes 
very apparent : so, also, on our naked, treeless prai- 
ries — the green oceans of the "West — those boundless 
savannahs, which stretch from one side of the horizon 
to the other, the want of timber renders the introduc- 
tion of live-fences a matter of great moment. Our 
fellow-citizens in Illinois fully appreciate this boon 
to their prairie country, and are striving, by means of 
the Maclura, to inclose the country that lies open, 
ready cleared, before them. 

It being conceded that, with our mixed agriculture, 
we must have inclosures, the important question arises, 
Of what shall they be made ? I shall not insist upon 
the use of hedging where the farms are supplied with 
these .appliances, or where the farmers have secured 
other legislative provision for their protection from 
encroachment ; and yet even-' to those the hedge may 
be presented favorably, on account of other qualities 
that are well worthy of consideration. Among these, 
their beauty, their protection and shelter, as well as 
their happy effect upon the temperature and moist- 
ure of the climate of a country, may all be urged as 
arguments in favor of some sort of live-fences. 

Economy. — It is a common saying, that if you touch 
an American's pocket, you may expect to reach his 
soul. Here, then, the advocate of hedges may hope to 
make an impression ; for, surely, this kind of inclosure 
has fair claims to be ranked as the cheapest of all 



18 HEDGING. 

fences. Hedges are not now thought to require one 
or two large ditches to protect them ; neither is it 
found necessary, as heretofore, to fence the fences. 
A little time is requisite to be sure, but not so much 
with our present hedge-plants as with those formerly 
used ; and when once made, there is only a trifling 
annual expense requisite to maintain the hedge in 
good order — nobody knows how long. E. Sayers, in 
his manual, asserts, that on land of tolerable fertility, 
the labor and expense of perfecting a system of hedges 
would not be greater than to keep our ordinary in- 
closures in good order, for the time required to con- 
struct them. When completed, this heavy item in 
every farmer's account would be expunged. Further 
details of the cost will be given in another place ; for 
there is an abundance of testimony to the economy 
of hedging. 

Beauty. — All writers and travellers tell us of this 
beautiful feature of the landscape in various parts of 
the Old World, where hedges abound ; those who have 
visited the cultivated plains of France and Belgium, 
on the other hand, complain of the monotony of the 
scene, where no lines of green separate the different 
fields ; and the universal testimony of European tra- 
vellers in our own country is, that the worm-fences 
are uncouth and cumbrous, and that there is a conse- 
quent want of finish in the appearance of the land- 
scape. How exceedingly happy would be the effect 
produced by these lines of green — especially on an 
uneven surface, where they would rise and fall in easy 
and natural curves — may be imagined by those who 
have had the opportunity of observing, even in a 



INFLUENCES ON CLIMATE. 19 

limited degree, well-grown and well-trimmed live- 
fences. 

For protection, nothing in the way of inclosure, 
from the yawning ditch to the sharp picketed iron 
fence, or the high wall, can equal the perfect live- 
hedge. When properly constructed, it is absolutely 
impassable to man and boy, to boar or bison, to fox 
or rabbit, and should scarcely afford shelter to mouse 
or snake : as to pigs and poultry, they will neither 
penetrate nor fly over a hedge that has been well 
made ; and they will for ever remain in profound ig- 
norance of what is transpiring in the outer regions. 

Shelter from the elements, as well as from prying 
eyes, is frequently a desideratum to be obtained from 
a screen of living green, and will be appreciated by 
those who, upon a wintry day, have found themselves 
upon the sunny side of a row of cedars or other ever- 
greens. Shelter from the cold winds is often a matter 
of great importance to the gardener : this may be 
much better obtained from an evergreen hedge than 
from a board-fence, even though it be close ; and cer- 
tainly, the former is the more agreeable object to 
contemplate. 

The landscape gardener well understands the value 
of screens to shut out disagreeable objects, or to give 
a sense of protection from the idle gaze of strangers. 
For this purpose, a peculiar sort of hedge is required, 
which may act as a protecting barrier, or otherwise — 
according to the taste and objects of the planter. 

Climate, Temperature, andHygrometricity. — Under 
the previous head, allusion was made to the influence 
upon temperature that is produced by a close ever- 



20 HEDGING. 

green hedge ; it is believed also that the mean tem- 
perature of a whole country, especially an open 
champaign country, would be very considerably 
modified, were its surface intersected with common 
hedges, dividing it into twenty-acre fields. This has 
been urged with considerable force by the able editor 
of The Prairie- Farmer, as an inducement to plant 
hedges in the West. The happy influence of a hedge 
in protecting fields of grain from the cutting effects 
of the wintry blasts have been noticed by every 
farmer. 

Other equally important climatic results have been 
observed — which may be called the hygrometric. In 
a high wind, as is well known, evaporation progresses 
more rapidly than in a gentle breeze, or in a calm. 
When, therefore, tender young crops are exposed, 
they will often suffer from the rapid evaporation that 
is caused by a strong current of air ; but if an obstruc- 
tion can be presented that will reduce the force of 
the current, we shall also diminish the evaporation. 
This may be done to a great extent by hedging, so as 
materially to modify the climate ; and as our country 
has a decided tendency to aridity, important results 
may ensue from the observance of any means that lie 
in our power to regulate this. The barrenness of the 
great "Western plains of our continent is said to depend 
more upon their aridity, and the constant evaporation 
caused by the winds that sweep over their surface, 
than upon any deficiency in the soil. It has been 
suggested, that the first step toward the settlement of 
such a country would be, to plant belts of trees of the 
hardiest drought-enduring kinds — such asAilanthus, 
Catalpa, &c. 



MORALITY. 21 

M. Kelly, a very intelligent nurseryman of Cincin- 
nati, called my attention to this subject, and has hap- 
pily carried out the principle upon his grounds. He 
plants in such a manner as to have close rows of ever- 
greens, at distances of fifty feet, that shall come on in 
succession, as those of larger growth are removed. 
These he finds sufficient to reduce the current of air 
in a storm, with a velocity of fifty miles an hour, to 
that of a gentle breeze, or five miles an hour. This 
applies to the surface only ; but that is the very point 
at which he wishes to protect the young vegetation 
from the effects of violent evaporation. 

The editor of The Prairie Farmer has given some 
suggestions on this subject. He thinks the preservation 
and extension of forest growth, and the division of the 
prairies into twenty-acre lots, by the dense hedges of 
maclura, would be equivalent to four or five degrees 
of latitude south during the growing season, and to 
half that in Winter. This is an off-hand estimate of 
the effect on climate, yet it is not beyond the known 
probability. The beauty of hedges — when con- 
trasted with wooden fences — is too obvious for further 
argument. 

These are some of the valuable results of hedging, 
independent the common questions of efficiency and 
economy : they may appear trivial, and possibly may 
be considered fallacious, but I believe they are im- 
portant, and real ; and have therefore presented them 
in this part of the essay. 

Morality. — In the words of one of my neighbors, 
quoted on a previous page, the immorality of our 
common system of fencing, and its cause— the free 



22 HEDGING. 



range of everybody's hungry kine, and other stock — 
was well set forth. May it not be shown, that if per- 
fect hedges were generally introduced, a great im- 
provement in the morals of the community would ne- 
cessarily ensue 1 I shall take the affirmative of this 
question. The fruitful source of disagreements among 
neighbors would be removed. The troublesome ani- 
mals that are turned out to make their own living upon 
the highways, and which are constantly encroaching 
upon private property, that board and rail fences will 
not protect, would soon die of starvation, and our 
troubles would have an end. Other more account- 
able beings often trespass upon us, to gratify their 
appetites at our expense, and though the law does not 
consider them guilty of stealing, there must be a wear 
and tear of their consciences, that is as unhealthy to 
them as their acts are unprofitable to us, the occupants 
of the soil. If, therefore, these breaches of propriety 
can be prevented by the construction of good hedges, 
the act may fairly be set down as a contribution to 
the morality of the community. 



CHAPTER II. 

Selection of the Plants — Dependent upon the Object in Yiew — 
Protection and Defence. 

The choice of the plants, with which to construct 
our hedges, will depend upon the soil, situation, and 
climate ; and also upon the especial object the planter 
may have in view. If, as is generally the case, he 
wishes to produce a harrier against depredation from 
without, and to prevent escape of his own animals 
from within, some plant must be selected that shall 
have the strength necessary to effect that object, with 
bushiness of habit, and a more or less thorny charac- 
ter. Hedges are often needed for shelter alone, or 
shelter combined with protection — in which case, a 
different sort of plant may be preferred : here the 
evergreens will often be selected, since they retain 
their foliage at a season when the shelter from biting 
winds is most needed. Yery often, however, the 
landscape-gardener, or amateur planter, desires to 
make a hedge as a screen to some disagreeable object, 
or may wish to use this means of providing an orna- 
ment to the grounds under his care ; in which case, he 
would make a very different selection of plants from 
those which would be preferred for a fence of pro- 
tection. 

When the subject of live-fences first attracted the 



24 



HEDGING. 



attention of farmers in this country, our European 
predilections very naturally induced us to look to the 
English hawthorn {Cratmgus oxycanthus), as the 
plant which would be most suitable for this purpose, 
and repeated attempts were made by the earliest 
planters, some of whom were entirely successful ; 
others, and by far the greater number, failed in effect- 
ing the object, not so much from any inherent defect 
of the thorn, as from sheer neglect in its management, 
and often, too, where the operators professed to be 
expert English hedgers. Too generally, the hedge 
was allowed, in the course of a few years, to become 
an irregular row of tall bushes, which might make a 
shady lane, redolent of sweets in the blossoming 
Spring-time, and ornamented w r ith rich clusters of 
coral berries, attractive to the birds in "Winter, beau- 
tiful to the poet at either season, but of small value 
as a fence, and possessing little to attract the eye of 
the good farmer, as an ornamental protection to his 
crops ; too often, indeed, requiring a wooden fence 
or a stone wall on either side, to make it at all pro- 
tective. 

There are, however, exceptions to this. In the 
United States, there are many handsome hedges of the 
English hawthorn, which are entirely effective ; and 
in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as in some of 
the older States, there are those who have been so 
entirely successful with this plant as to feel perfectly 
satisfied with it. The English thorn, in the first 
attempts in hedging, was most commonly planted, 
because it was readily and cheaply obtained by impor- 
tation from England. Other plants had then to be 



PLATE II 






dS&iUft 




CRATAEGUS OXYCANTHUS 

Hawthorn.— (See Page 24.) 



THE COCKSPUR, THE BUCKTHORN. 25 

grown iii this country, before the nurserymen were 
able to supply the demand, as they have since done, 
with this and other plants, in great abundance. The 
introduction of this thorn, and its improper treatment, 
have doubtless contributed much to the disfavor with 
which hedging is often viewed by many of our coun- 
trymen. For even those who have fortunately suc- 
ceeded in erecting a protective barrier with the Eng- 
lish hawthorn, whether by the laborious plashing 
and trimming, or by trimming alone, have found that 
the droughts of our summers caused the leaves to 
fall from this native of a cooler and more humid clime ; 
and, after midsummer, there was little foliage, but a 
naked fence of dead-looking brush. 

Similar objections apply with great force to many 
of our own thorns ; but there may be some among 
this beautiful family which are not subject to the 
same defect : one is well known to be free from it, 
the Cockspur (Crataegus crusgalli), used extensively 
about Wilmington, Delaware — where there are some 
of the finest and best-grown farm-hedges that are to 
be found on our continent. This plant is a native of 
our Middle States, and is truly beautiful, with its 
deep green and highly-polished leaves, which are long 
and entire, or with a finely serrated margin: the 
thorns are very long, slender, and tough ; so that it is 
well adapted to the purpose. 

The Buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus), indigenous 
to our country, as well as to Northern Europe and 
Asia, is a bushy plant, growing from ten to fifteen 
feet high, not very thorny, but having sharp stiff 
spurs, or side branches. It is very easily propagated 

2 



26 HEDGING. 






by seeds, and is considerably used as a hedge-plant 
in the Northern States, for which purpose, on account 
of its hardiness, it is there especially adapted. In 
the Transactions of the Essex County Agricultural 
Society is an account of a very successful hedge, 
grown by Mr. Derby, of Salem, Mass. ; his first hedge 
had not lost a plant in thirty-three years, nor was it 
attacked by any insect. 

The buckthorn succeeds remarkably well, also, as 
far south as 39° north latitude, where it retains its 
small, dark-green leaves until late in the Autumn. 
This plant bears clipping remarkably well, does not 
suffer from extreme cold, puts on its greenness early 
in the Spring, and is possessed of great vitality — 
so that it seldom suffers from transplanting. It is 
generally set in the hedge-row at about nine inches 
distance apart. 

The native Crab Apple {Pyrus coronaria), has been 
planted for hedges with some success : it may be 
grown from seed, but is less vigorous than some other 
plants : it bears clipping very well, it is exquisitely 
beautiful when clothed with its very fragrant blossoms, 
that are the prettiest of all the apple flowers : but this 
plant is open to the objection made to most of its 
congeners of the thorn family — it is apt to lose its 
foliage after midsummer. The peculiar beauty of the 
wild crab being its dwarf tree habit, in which it 
sometimes assumes the most picturesque forms, it may 
be mingled with other plants with great advantage, 
where it is desirable to produce an effect, by training 
a little tree, here and there above the hedge, to break 
the monotony of the continuous line : for this purpose 
the crab has no equals. 






GLEDITSCHIA TRIACANTHUS. 

Honey Locust.— (See Page 27. 



THE HONEY-LOCUST. 27 

The Honey-locust (Gleditschia triacanihos), is in 
our forests a large tree, draped in a most beautiful 
foliage, and armed with terrific thorns. The size 
attained by this tree in its native wilds would apj3ear 
to disqualify it for the purpose of hedging ; but its 
thorns and the peculiar tendency of its branches to 
form sturdy, short-jointed spray, when subjected to 
close pruning, make it a capital material from which 
to form an impregnable barrier upon the outside of 
farm inclosures : vineyards and orchards inclosed 
with the three-thorned acacia would need little guard- 
ing against depredators. My favorable ideas of this 
plant for our purpose have not been derived from 
many good specimen hedges, but from the round, im- 
penetrable masses of thorns and spray that may be 
found in any of our closely-fed commons, where the 
cattle have browsed off the tender young shoots, as 
fast as they were produced. 

Though a strong grower, and one that will require 
the most severe pruning to make a hedge, and though 
almost every writer and experimenter has condemned 
the honey-locust as unfit for a hedge-plant, my own 
observations of it, as seen in the commons and by the 
road-sides, have satisfied me that it is worthy of fur- 
ther trial as an outside fence : my reasons are, its easy 
propagation, its strong and rapid growth, its endurance 
of severe clipping, and its tendency, when cut-in, to 
produce a multitude of strong, short-jointed shoots, 
while the whole plant is covered with terrible thorns, 
that bid defiance to man and beast. Generally, the 
hedges that I have seen of this locust have failed from 
too close planting, by which means a large proportion 



28 HEDGING. 

of the plants were smothered ; and then, from want 
of trimming, the result was very soon a row of trees. 
I shall plant three feet apart, beside a public road, 
and trim severely, as often as may seem needful, until 
the bush habit be established ; nor ever allow a leader 
to grow a yard above the hedge-top : and by this 
course I shall expect to have an impenetrable hedge 
in two, or at most three, years from planting. Few 
hedgers have done their duty with this plant : they 
have crowded the hedge-row, and then neglected the 
needful severity in pruning. Every common will 
give us positive evidence in favor of this plant, as an 
offset to the failures of unphilosophic experimenters, 
who denounced it as unworthy further trial, because 
it would not make a hedge of its own free-will and 
accord, and in spite of their neglect. 

¥m. Reid, of Elizabethtown, !N\ Y., who has been 
a very successful experimenter with various hedge- 
plants, considers the honey-locust the best for farm 
hedges. After twenty years' trial, he is satisfied 
that it is more easily kept, and better adapted for a 
farm-fence, than any other that has yet been used. 
When properly cut, it looks as well as any deciduous 
plant — as I can myself testify, from an inspection of 
his different hedges. The editor of The Horticulturist 
prefers it to the maclura, because, he says, it does not 
sucker — in this no backwoodsman will concur ; for we 
know that the gleditschia is very prone to sucker in 
plowed land ; but we have never known a maclura to 
do so. The desideratum of a good defensive, and, at 
the same time, ornamental hedge, would seem to be 
supplied, says that editor, in the buckthorn and the 
honey-locust. 



THE WHITETHORN. 29 



A. H. Ernst, one of our oldest horticulturists, has 
had a good deal of experience in hedging, which, I 
know, will be acceptable as testimony in a work like 
this. On some points, however, we do not entirely 
agree. In a communication to the Western Horti- 
cultural Review, he gives the result of twenty-five 
years' observation and experience, with the influence 
of climate on plants and hedging. 

" Having, in my boyhood, in my own ' fatherland,' 
imbibed a strong love for the beautiful and graceful 
hedge, which there lines every roadside, no other 
stimulus than its recollection was required to prompt 
attention to it, at the first moment I became a land- 
owner. Consulting the best authors, and such other 
experienced aids as I could command, I went to 
work with a corresponding zeal. My first experiment 
was with the privet or prim ; of this I had nearly half 
a mile planted, which grew and flourished as beauti- 
fully and luxuriantly as the heart could wish, until it 
became necessary to bring it to a stationary point by 
the shears ; it then became affected in spots with a 
blight, producing death : this spread, until my beauti- 
ful hedge, the admiration of every one who passed by, 
became a most unsightly and worthless affair. 

" Next I attempted with several varieties of our 
native whitethorn, which I found indigenous on my 
land. These all grew finely while young ; but in the 
process of forming the hedge, when it became necessary 
to bring it to a stationary point, by summer shearing, 
the leaves turned yellow, and dropping off, left the 
plants naked of foliage after midsummer; from these 
mischievous effects it has never recovered. 



30 HEDGING. 

"I also experimented on the honey-locust, the plants 
of which I raised from seed : these flourished beauti- 
fully ; but after being planted in hedge-rows, and as 
they grew larger, they commenced dying out — satis- 
fying me that it is not a plant which will bear crowd- 
ing, or subjection to the hedge form. 

" Then I planted the Washington thorn, and buck- 
thorn : both grew beautifully — the former throwing 
up straight and vigorous stems after each Spring's 
cutting down, with but little disposition, however, to 
form laterals, or to fill up below. It continued thus 
to flourish until it became necessary to plash it; since 
which it is evidently becoming enfeebled, and shows 
symptoms of speedily sharing the fate of its prede- 
cessors. The buckthorn has, on the contrary, evinced 
a hardiness and ability to flourish under every treat- 
ment to which it has been subjected — recommending 
itself very strongly to my confidence, as being well 
adapted for hedging in our climate, though a northern 
plant. It is remarkable for spreading at the bottom, 
throwing out strong laterals, almost at right angles, 
near the ground ; and is dwarfish in its habit of growth, 
but has no thorns, which makes it undesirable for an 
outside protector : still, it forms spurs which are stiff 
and pointed ; so that with care in plashing it will make 
a capital fence, and certainly one of great beauty. 
The plants are easily raised from seed. I have seen 
the fruitless attempts to bring the black-locust, sweet- 
briar, and other native and foreign plants, into use for 
hedging. 

" With due respect for the feelings of zealous ad- 
vocates, I feel that I hazard nothing in saying, that 



ON THE TREATMENT OP HEDGE-PLANTS. 31 

as yet hedging for fencing and protection, in a practical 
point of view, is only in the process of experiment 
with ns. We have been accustomed to look to 
Europe for lessons of instruction — a land in which 
almost every variety of tree is made to assume the 
hedge form with entire success — where the solar rays 
are far less intense and severe. To this source we 
have looked for instruction, and attempted to carry 
their practice into effect, without duly considering 
the difference of climate. Plants, under their com- 
paratively mild and more humid atmosphere, are 
sheared through the Summer, and exposed with per- 
fect impunity. If the same treatment is applied to 
them here, and divested of foliage by the shears or 
hedge-hook, while under the influence of a partial 
suspension of vegetation, for want of necessary moisture 
in the earth during the excessive droughts which al- 
most always occur after midsummer, and thus exposed 
to our brilliant sun's rays, the most pernicious effects 
on them will be the consequences, and it will not 
require many repetitions to cause disease and their 
destruction. That this is no visionary speculation, I 
need only name the fact, that the plants on which I 
have experimented are indigenous to our soil and 
climate, where, in their natural state, and isolated, 
they flourish most luxuriantly. I am well aware that 
almost all young woody deciduous plants will bear 
cutting down, no matter how low, so that it is not 
below the neck, and throw up a strong growth ; but 
it is only safe do to this in the Spring ; if repeated 
after June, it is at the imminent risk of the destruction 
of the plant. The more rampant its growth, the 



32 HEDGING. 

greater care is necessary not to check it up too sud- 
denly and severely. 

"While, however, I would inculcate caution to 
those who are inexperienced in hedging, against the 
evils of too much severity in pruning at the improper 
time, I give my full sanction to the necessity of so 
pruning as to secure a close and compact base. If a 
plant will not bear this treatment, it had better be 
discarded, for without such compactness a hedge is 
not worth the trouble of planting." 

Various other plants have been applied to the pur- 
pose, in this country and in Europe ; some of which 
will be considered under the heads to which they 
appropriately belong : but, for a fence of defence, 
the first in importance, and that which has pre-eminent 
qualities, is the JMaclura, Boclark {Bois d'arc) or Osage 
Orange, a native of Arkansas and Texas, but admir- 
ably adapted to our climate, growing luxuriantly, and 
withstanding our "Winter very well. The Maclura 
claims our attention as a hedge-plant, on account of 
its beautiful bright green and shining foliage, which 
is retained until late in the Autumn, as well as for its 
vigorous growth, and the admirable manner in which 
it bears the clippings necessary to make a good 
hedge. 

The Buffalo Berry (Sheperdia eleagnoides), is a 
peculiar thorny plant, with a silvery foliage, that is 
not very abundant. It grows on the Rocky Moun- 
tains, whence it was brought by the botanist JSTuttall, 
who named it from an English horticulturalist. The 
plant is dioecious, and bears bright red berries. James 
Winship, of Brighton, near Boston, has the honor of 



THE SPANISH BAYONET, THE CHEROKEE ROSE. 33 

having first introduced it to notice as a hedge-plant, 
for which, its thick growth and spiny spurs may ren- 
der it suitable ; but it is slender, and better adapted 
to gardens than field-fences. 

In the genial climate of the Southern States, the 
hedger may have recourse to some plants that make 
excellent protective Carriers, perfect fences, although 
entirely unfitted for our colder latitudes, because of 
their inability to stand the action of our frosts. Among 
these are the cactus, of strong-growing varieties, which 
is much used in Mexico and Texas. The Spanish 
Bayonet, or (Yucca aloifolia), which has long stiff 
leaves, armed with sharp spines, that render it very 
formidable as a hedge-plant, in Florida and Louisiana, 
where it is frequently used in close gardens. 

The Cherokee Rose (Rosa Icevigata), is planted to 
a considerable extent for hedging, as far north as 
Natchez, Mississippi, and in many of the Southern 
States, where it is highly spoken of as a hedge-plant. 
The extreme beauty of its shining, persistent leaves, 
makes a hedge of this plant a beautiful addition to 
the Southern Winter landscape ; and the purity of its 
numerous, large, white blossoms renders it a brilliant 
object in Spring. Like other roses, however, it is 
always liable to an accumulation of dead wood ; and, 
being a rampant grower, it is difficult to keep the 
hedge within bounds. Mr. Henry, in The Southern 
Farmer and Planter, describes the Cherokee rose- 
hedge in the following words : 

" A great many shrubs and trees have been used 
for the formation of hedges, but none is better adapted 
to this purpose than the Cherokee or Carolina Rose. 

2* 



34 HEDGING. 

This plant is of a hardy nature, rapid growth, easy 
of cultivation, and makes a beautiful, durable, com- 
pact, and perfectly impenetrable hedge ; and, so far 
as has been ascertained, is not subject to any disease, 
nor to the attacks of any depredators. 

" This rose is propagated from roots, seed, layers, 
or cuttings, and will grow on any land, but nourishes 
best in a deep, rich, loamy situation. The Fall and 
Winter months are the proper season for the formation 
of the hedge. If it is proposed to inclose a plantation 
with this rose, remove the fence a few feet, in order 
that the proposed hedge may occupy the space upon 
which the old fence stood, as it is usually more mellow 
and fertile than the adjoining soil. Clear the ground 
of briars, roots, stones, and everything that might tend 
to retard the speedy and successful growth of the cut- 
tings. Break up the soil deeply, pulverize as finely 
as possible, and throw up the dirt in the same manner 
as if preparing a cotton-bed. 

" Having procured a sufficient quantity of the rose, 
cut it into pieces of sixteen or eighteen inches in 
length. Then insert the cuttings about eight or ten 
inches deep in the bed, pressing the earth firmly 
about each one. Having planted your hedge, let it 
remain till the grass and weeds make their appear- 
ance in the Spring and Summer : then scrape between 
the rows and cuttings, in the same manner as if work- 
ing cotton. Continue to keep the hedge clear of 
weeds during the first and second Summer, after it is 
planted. Be careful, in cleaning out the weeds, that 
the young cuttings are not injured, or displaced by 
the hoe, as the least jar will frequently cause them 
to droop and die. 



PLATE V. 





THE OSAGE ORANGE. 35 

" Nothing now remains to be done but to keep the 
hedge clear of weeds ; and as the cuttings advance in 
length and height, interweave the branches together. 
This must be done by means of a long-pronged or 
forked stick, as the briars cannot be handled with ease 
or safety, on account of the long, strong, and sharp 
thorns, with which this rose abounds. In three years 
from the insertion of the cuttings, if the soil has been 
well prepared, and well worked, a hedge will be 
formed, which, by its impenetrability, will repel the 
attacks of any animal, and by its beauty soften, in a 
degree, the desolate and gloomy appearance of our 
winters." 

That the Osage Orange {Madura aurantiaca\ is 
The Hedge Plant for the United States, may now be 
fearlessly asserted. Though some persons may have 
failed with it in producing the desired effect, still, I 
am satisfied that a thorough investigation of the facts 
would show that the work had not been well per- 
formed, and that the hedger, rather than the hedge- 
plant, was to blame. 

An Englishman, familiar with the plants and sys- 
tems pursued at home and in this country, writes: 
" Objections have been made by some to the Osage 
Orange, I maintain that it is the only good thing 
known, and fit for hedges in this country. Any other 
plants offered as a substitute, I consider worse than 
useless." Mr. Alexander Smith, of Rural, Ohio, writes, 
that when he first saw the Maclura at Fort Towson, 
he became satisfied that it would make a good hedge- 
plant. From an examination of its natural growth, 
he does not fear its spreading by suckers, as its roots 



36 HEDGING. 

are inclined to run down into the ground, and not 
upon the surface. 

Win. !Neff, of Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the pioneers 
of hedging in this part of the country, tells me, there 
is no known plant so peculiarly adapted to the pur- 
pose, and so valuable to our agricultural interests, as 
the Maclura. Some writers are disposed to class it 
among the humbugs, and many doubt its utility, but 
among them all, you will not probably find much, if 
any experience. If rightly managed, it makes the 
best and cheapest fence in the world, without any 
special objection whatever. 

E. Miller, of Waverley, 111., says, in the Morgan 
Journal : " It is no longer a matter of experiment, 
whether the Osage Orange will make a fence or not. 
It is a proved fact, that, with proper culture, a hedge 
can be grown in four years, so compact, that no kind 
of stock can pass it ; and in good soil, this can be 
effected in three years." 

C. R. Overman, of Canton, 111., who has for many 
years been engaged in hedging, with various mate- 
rials, gives the palm, without a particle of reserve, 
to the Maclura, on the score of its " superior merits 
over all other plants, being cheaper, of more easy 
culture, and quicker growth, having terrible spines, 
being free from the attacks of insects ; having great 
tenacity of life, and great longevity, it will bear 
crowding and cutting to any extent, and is well 
adapted to our soil and climate." He further states, 
that, " whatever credit may be due to the enterprise 
of hedging, in general, as an acquisition to the State 
of Illinois, will be claimed by the Maclura, in par- 



THE MACLURA. 37 

ticular, on the score of its superior merits over all 
other plants competing with it for that purpose. It 
is assumed in its favor, that, by its agency, not only 
may the fanning of prairies be greatly facilitated and 
improved, but that the millions of acres, the richest 
soil on the earth, yet remaining a barren waste in our 
own State, for want of a material to fence it, may be 
brought into successful cultivation by growing the 
fences on the soil ; thus giving homes and sustenance 
to additional millions of population, immensely in- 
creasing the wealth and taxable property of the State, 
and promoting the happiness of the masses." 

Professor J. B. Turner, of Illinois College, Jackson- 
ville, who was one of the most earnest and early 
advocates of the Madura as a hedge-plant, writing for 
The Iowa Farmer, as long ago as June 20, 1848, 
said : " It is in all respects unrivalled as a hedge- 
plant in quickness of growth, the stubbornness and 
density of its branches and thorns, and the extreme 
beauty of its foliage, flowers, and fruit. They all 
agree that it will prove perfectly hardy in any climate 
where the Isabella grape will ripen in the open air. 
And there are hedges of it standing in every State, 
from the latitude of Boston to the mouth of the Rio 
Grande. 

" Hundreds of rods of it have been put out in Ohio, 
even amid their dense forests of timber, and it is 
doing admirably. There are pieces of it in this State 
and in Missouri quite to the north of us, which are 
doing finely. I have had the plants on my ground 
ten years, and have them now of almost all ages and 
sizes, from one month to ten years old. 



38 HEDGING. 

"I have one piece of hedge three years old next Fall 
that will turn any stock I have, from the smallest 
chicken or rabbit to the horse and ox. I have received 
letters on the subject from all parts of the Union, and 
have not received one unfavorable account from any 
one who has made a proper trial, with plants raised 
from the seeds in this climate. In some one or two 
instances, plants brought from the South, or allowed 
to freeze the Urst winter, have been injured after- 
wards, as, of course, might have been expected. I have 
some two or three miles of hedge put out around my 
pet farm and orchard, and have, this Spring, inclosed 
my house-lot of four acres on College Hill. In trans- 
planting thousands this Spring, I have had to replace 
only three. All who have seen my hedges intend 
to plant them next Spring ; especially the English, 
who were accustomed to hedges in the Old Country, 
are quite taken with it. They say, that there is 
nothing in England that can be compared to it as a 
hedge-plant." 

E. Miller, of "Waverly, 111., also commends the 
Madura : " Owing to so many unsuccessful efforts 
of farmers, the character of the plant has suffered 
without any just cause ; for where the hedge is pro- 
perly managed, it is certain to result in producing a 
good fence. There is no question but the hedge will 
soon supersede all other fences through the country. 

" Nothing could be better adapted to fence the 
prairies of the West. Its cheapness, its durability, 
and its perfection for a fence, demands its almost 
universal adoption where fence-lines are to be per- 
manent. The expense of inclosing a farm with a hedge 



THE MACLURA. 39 

is but one-half what it is with any other fence : while 
they rot in a few years, the hedge, in all probability, 
will endure very many years, perhaps for generations. 

" There is another fact with regard to this plant. 
It will not spread ; this has been sufficiently tested. 
The oldest hedges in the country, being now some 16 
years old, in Ohio, show no signs of spreading. Here 
and there, a shoot may come from the root, but very 
seldom, even where the roots are cut. The proba- 
bility is, that not one root in ten thousand will sprout 
when they are cut with a plow or other instrument." 

D. J. Browne, in a report to The New York Agri- 
cultural Society, says : " It is perfectly hardy in every 
State, south of Massachusetts, is free from the attacks 
of insects, and is unsurpassed for hedges by any other 

tree." 

A. H. Ernst, says : " I have been attentive to the 
Osage orange. Every step in my practice with it 
has been to increase my confidence in its capacity to 
supply the desired object. Though disposed, in rich 
soils, when cut down, to throw up a rampant and 
strong growth, it is also (but less than the buckthorn) 
remarkable for throwing out laterals near the ground, 
and readily forming a close, compact base, if this 
rampant growth is judiciously controlled, so as to 
prevent the sap from being all absorbed by it. It is 
a most voracious feeder; it cannot, therefore, be 
expected to nourish on poor fare. It is also a dwarf- 
ish-growing tree. These traits, with its numerous 
strong and sharp thorns, fit it peculiarly for hedging 
purposes on our rich bottoms and hills : it will be of 
incalculable value to the country." 



40 HEDGING. 

The maclura was brought to St. Louis at a very 
earl j period, aud planted by Mr. Chouteau in 1800. 
The French are also said to have introduced it to some 
of their posts in Illinois, a long while ago — but it was 
only as a curiosity. The plant was brought to Cincin- 
nati, in 1832, by D. Gano, and others : there are now 
many bearing trees, which perfect their seed annually. 
It was taken to Philadelphia in 1803, and grown by 
the elder Landreth, at the old garden in Passyunk, 
where it remained a long time before its merits as a 
hedge-plant were discovered. The original tree is 
30 feet high, and has a stem 2 feet in diameter. 
In D. Landreth's catalogue, for 1842, it is set forth, 
that further experience has tended to confirm the 
opinion that this plant is likely to supersede the thorn 
for hedging. There are some hedges near this, only 
a few years planted, which are more effective than 
any thorn of twice their age. 

D. J. Browne, in his Trees of America, says, that 
the seeds were sent to England about 1818, by Senor 
Correa de Serra. Mr. B. does not appear to have 
been aware of the value of this tree as a hedge-plant, 
when he published his valuable work in 1846. 



CHAPTEK III. 

Selection op Plants, continued — The Shelter-Hedge — The Screen 
and Ornamental Hedge. 

Shelter from the cold winds is often an object of 
great importance to the gardener, as has been already 
remarked in the introductory chapter. Shelter, how- 
ever, is a consideration well worthy the study of the 
farmer ; whether it be provided for the economy of his 
entire establishment, as a protection to his fields, or 
confined to the home and farm steadings, for the bene- 
fit of his household and barn-yard. In the latter, the 
genial influence of shelters of living green would be 
most beneficial to the poor beasts, who would silently 
thank the donor for the warmth, and make ample 
return to the pocket for the small outlay required. 

There are several plants well adapted to this pur- 
pose ; but the cheapest, most rapidly produced, and 
therefore the most desirable of all, is the common red 
cedar {Juniperus virginiana), which is readily grown 
from seeds, and will be large enough for planting out 
in two years, and will furnish quite a shelter at the end 
of three or four seasons. This plant also bears clip- 
ping remarkably well ; though, if entirely neglected, 
it will make a compact wall of close greenery from 
the very ground. This evergreen was one of the first 
with which I experimented ; and though so common 



42 HEDGING. 

as to be lightly considered in some parts of the coun- 
try, where its appearance is supposed to be indicative 
of poverty in the soil, and of bad farming, its balsamic 
odor, and its genial shelter from the storm- wind, have 
made it with me a prime favorite : I shall continue to 
plant it extensively for this purpose. 

The American Arbor Yitge {Thuja occidentalis) , 
is another native, and one of the very best of the 
terebinthinate trees, for the purpose of hedge shelters ; 
it branches low, and may always be found in the nur- 
series, well furnished to the ground. It is frequently 
propagated by layering the lower branches — which 
root very freely, and may be removed after one sea- 
son. This plant may be wonderfully improved in 
its appearance by clipping. Such as were quite open 
and straggling in the Spring, became thick and bushy 
in one Summer, after having their limbs judiciously 
shortened-in. 

The Chinese Arbor Yitse {Thuja orientalis\ is 
another beautiful evergreen, with an erect habit of 
growth ; but it is not nearly so good for this purpose 
as the two just named, on account of its tendency to 
grow shabby, and its liability to spread open in snow- 
storms, like the common juniper. It is grown from 
seed. 

The Norway Spruce {Abies excelsa), is perhaps one 
of the very best plants that can be used in this way, 
on account of its tendency to spread out its lower 
branches, assuming naturally the pyramidal form ; and 
it is also found that this plant bears clipping very 
well : nothing can be more beautiful or more effective, 
as a shelter, than the Norway Spruce. The American 



THE SHELTER HEDGE. 



43 



Ked and Black Spruce (Abies rubra,A.nigra), might 
answer an equally good purpose, in the Northern 
States, where they thrive; but they do not succeed so 
well in lower latitudes as the Norway, nor have I 
seen them planted for this purpose. 

The Hemlock Spruce (Abies canadensis), is one of 
our most beautiful trees in its native haunts, and it 
succeeds admirably in our lawns and pleasure-grounds, 
whether as a single pyramid of darkest green feathery 
foliage, or as a group. Although this plant makes 
one of the largest timber-trees, it bears the curtail- 
ment of its branches by the trimming shears, and 
soon forms a most beautiful close shelter-hedge, for 
garden and grounds— such as would contribute greatly 
to the comfort of all concerned. 

Several other plants are well adapted to this pur- 
pose; one of the very best and most beautiful is the 
Holly (Ilex opaca), which will form a beautiful ever- 
green hedge, and a pretty good barrier against cattle. 
It is of exquisite green, and, ornamented in the depth 
of Winter with its scarlet berries, it is very attractive. 
This plant is of very slow growth, and does not suc- 
ceed in many of our heavy limestone soils; hence it 
cannot be applied in such localities. The Yew (Taxus 
baccata), either the English or the Irish variety, would 
answer admirably for interior subdivisions of the 
garden, where the influence of a shelter was required 
—the latter, particularly, from its very close, upright 
growth. For the same reason, the Swedish Juniper 
(Juniperussuecica)h.2L§ strong claims upon the planter ; 
though it is apt to grow too tall for an interior gar- 
den shelter ; and from its fastigiate mode of growth, 



44: HEDGING. 

it is very easily injured by the snow separating its 
branches. 

For these garden uses, there are few plants so desir- 
able as the Tree Box {Buxus sempervirens), which 
may be trimmed to any desired shape, and being very 
compact, makes a most efficient shelter. It is also 
admirably adapted to cemetery hedges ; where a sim- 
ple border only is desired to mark the boundary, 
instead of the high, selfish fences, so often seen ob- 
truding themselves upon the view. I do not here 
refer to the Dwarf Box {Buxus sempervirens, var.), 
which is of much slower growth, and smaller size, 
therefore admirably adapted to edgings for flower- 
beds. Both of these are grown from cuttings. 

For Southern gardens there are many beautiful 
shrubs, that are well adapted to the purposes we are 
now considering ; though in the Middle and Northern 
States they have not proved themselves quite hardy. 
Among these are our beautiful Wild Orange {Cerasus 
caroliniana), that is much planted about Southern 
residences, for hedges, because of its beautiful dark 
and shining leaves, and early white blossoms ; it grows 
rapidly, and bears the knife well : I have seen perfect 
hedges of this material in Louisiana and Alabama. 

The evergreen oaks of the Southern States would 
also make a very pretty effect. The myrtle, also, is 
there hardy, and succeeds as well as in the south of 
Europe. So, also, the Laurustinus ( Vihurmim tinus), 
or Christmas Hose, as it is called in England, where 
it is hardy, and shows its clusters of white fragrant 
flowers in mid- winter, though not hardy in our Middle 
States. This shrub is straggling in its habit ; but may 



SCREENS, ORNAMENTAL HEDGES. 45 

easily be trained as a beautiful screen-hedge, or as an 
ornamental object to conceal an old wall, or other 
object. The Laurustinus needs judicious pruning 
with the knife, in Spring, to avoid destroying the 
flower-buds, and injuring the leaves with the shears. 

Certain deciduous shrubs, which hold their leaves 
late in the season, may be found to answer a very 
good purpose for those who cannot procure the ex- 
pensive evergreens, to which reference has already 
been made. Of these, the commonest and most easily 
propagated is the Privet (Ligustrum vulgare), which 
will grow readily from cuttings — is thickly studded 
with small, dark-green leaves, that often remain all 
"Winter. It bears pretty, white, fragrant flowers in 
Summer, and affords a nice shelter. The chief objec- 
tion to this plant is, that it has been found subject to 
blight ; some beautiful screens made with it were so 
much disfigured by dead plants, and consequent gaps, 
that the proprietors were obliged to remove them 
entirely. 

The Barberry, also, {Berberis vulgaris), when in a 
healthy condition, retains its foliage late in the season, 
when it assumes rich 'hues, that render it exceedingly 
ornamental. At all seasons, it forms a beautiful 
screen, and is so thick as to make quite a shelter from 
the wind. Yery early, it presents its threads of sen- 
sitive yellow blossoms, which are followed by persis- 
tent crimson berries, that furnish us with a grateful 
acid jelly, and attract the birds of Winter. 

Screens and Ornamental Hedges. — These are 
often needed about our country homes, where there 
are no private back-yards, as in cities, and where the 



46 HEDGING. 

best housekeepers cannot avoid certain disagreeables, 
that should be concealed from the scrutiny of visitors. 
Then there is the coach-house, or stable, the smoke- 
house, the ice-house, perhaps the woodpile, or some 
other such object, that the judicious landscape gard- 
ener may wish to hide. To effect so desirable an 
object, there are many shrubs which may be advan- 
tageously planted. The barberry and privet, where 
the latter does not blight, will very quickly produce 
the effect. One of the quickest and most effective 
screens is made by the Althea, so called {Hibiscus 
syriaeus), which strikes readily from cuttings, grows 
rapidly, and furnishes a succession of variously colored 
flowers during the mid-summer, when few shrubs are 
in bloom. It may be objected to this Hibiscus that 
it is late in the Spring with its foliage. 

The most rapid growth for a tall screen will be 
furnished by the mock-orange (Philadelphus grandi- 
flora), which bears a profusion of showy white flowers. 
The lilacs also, are universal favorites, and peculiarly 
appropriate for screens. Any of the strong growing 
roses will make a good screen in a short time. The 
common sweet-brier is a great favorite with all to 
whom its poetical associations or its fragrance are 
familiar ; its scarlet hyps are very ornamental in 
"Winter. Many of the prairie roses would also be 
admirably adapted to this purpose ; for here we find a 
rampant growth, with several different tints in the 
flowers, that appear in the greatest profusion, and 
have a very extended season of bloom. For the South, 
the Cherokee or Carolina, the Chinese Multiflora, 
Laura Davoust, or the yellow and white Banksian are 



SCREENS, ORNAMENTAL HEDGES. 47 

admirable. In the North, the more hardy, free-grow- 
ing and rich hnes, and the shining foliage of the 
Boursalt roses will render them favorites — and the 
Glory of Rosamenes, with its abundant autumnal 
bloom of exquisite brilliancy. In forming a screen 
of almost any of this class of climbing roses, it will 
be necessary to provide a trellis for their support : 
these are now furnished of a very superior character 
by the Lowell Wire-Fence Company, and at reason- 
able rates ; they make a good fence and support the 
roses, or vines, at the same time. 

Some of the prettiest snug screens, and subordinate 
divisions of the garden or lawn, may be constructed 
of the beeches, birches, and hornbeams, which are all 
notable for the exceeding beauty and feathery light- 
ness of their foliage, which is also remarkably neat 
and trim, and persistent in Winter. These kinds are 
not so well adapted for a fence as many others ; but 
for a screen, they may be often selected as preferable 
to almost anything else. The young plants may be 
set closer, if the intention be to produce a result 
quickly, and the wattling process may then be applied 
with advantage ; the stems being interwoven together 
in two opposite directions, like a lattice, will increase 
their strength also, as in many places they become 
inarched. This is the more desirable where the 
screen may be wanted to serve as a slight fence also, 
for a part of the year — as for instance in pasturing the 
lawn occasionally with sheep — as has been recently 
recommended by some amateurs, who do not like the 
labor of the repeated mowings, so necessary to keep 
the grass in order. 



48 



HEDGING. 



The beech and birch will both bear the clipping of 
the shears remarkably well, but will require as much 
care as any other hedge to preserve the foliage on 
the lower parts of the plants, especially on account 
of the natural upward tendency of their shoots, and 
the strong propensity of those who may have charge 
of the trimming to be led by the natural growth, and 
give them perpendicular walls instead of slopes, so 
strongly recommended under the appropriate head, 
in another chapter. The almost inevitable conse- 
quence of this perpendicularity, will be a leaning over, 
which results from the natural extension of the upper 
twigs, and this will soon cause a decay and thinness 
below. The plants of the Fagus sylvatica are im- 
ported by the nurserymen ; and after being grown a 
year or two, are in a very fine condition for setting 
out. Why will not our own beeches and hornbeams 
answer an equally good purpose ? and why can we not 
have some grown by the nurserymen? 

Siberian Crab. — This plant is peculiarly neat and 
beautiful at all seasons of the year — even in Winter, 
its regular form and clean limbs and twigs give it a 
grace ; in Spring, its blossoms are attractive ; in Sum- 
mer, its shining leaves always look clean, and contrast 
beautifully with its crimson and yellow waxen fruit, 
that hang thickly and long. Besides all these recom- 
mendations, its bushy habit renders it very suitable 
for an ornamental hedge. A writer in The Horti- 
culturist, some time since, recommended it highly, 
from having seen a piece five years old, which, he 
says, was one of the best hedges he had ever beheld ; 
it was made from seedlings of this variety. I have 



SCREENS, ORNAMENTAL HEDGES. 49 

so much confidence in its making a pretty ornamental 
fence, that I have ordered a quantity of grafted trees 
from a nurseryman, which shall be planted about two 
feet apart, for that purpose. 

The Pyrus japonica ( Cydonia) which holds its leaves 
pretty well in the Autumn, and puts on its bright 
scarlet flowers in early Spring — is deservedly a favorite 
with most persons ; and, despite its straggling habit, 
forms a pretty screen ; and as it bears clipping very 
well, it will make a good hedge. These views are 
confirmed by the learned editor of The Horticulturist, 
Mr. Barry. " This beautiful plant grows very readily 
from cuttings, and forms a superb hedge. Mr. Peid 
exhibits about four hundred feet of it in the highest 
perfection, a portion of it well grown about four feet 
high ; it forms not only one of the most beautiful 
flowering hedges (there being very few hedge-plants 
that flower when cut,) but it is also one of the most 
valuable and close defences of any plant yet tried. 
Interspersed with a few running roses, such as the 
Multiflora or Prairie, it will produce the most orna- 
mental of screens. JSTo one, who has not seen it, can 
properly estimate its great value." In this latitude, 
it also frequently blooms in December. 

The Pyracantha (Cratcegus pyracanthus) with its 
small' evergreen leaves, and bright orange-red berries, 
that remain all Winter, would also make a pretty 
screen, where it can be trained, as against a wall, for 
its habit is very straggling ; then it is not a rapid 
grower, and is liable to be destroyed by the thorn- 
borer. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Maclura Hedge, and why it has failed — Growing the Plants 
— Seed, Sprouting, Planting — Culture — Taking up the Plants — 
Sorting — Wintering — Puddling — Trenching-in — Packing. 

Firmly convinced, as I am, that the Maclura is 
every thing I have claimed for it, as a hedge-plant, it 
may be asked, by those who are unwilling to take 
anything for granted, why are there so many failures 
in the attempts to make hedges of this plant, in all 
parts of the country ? This is a very sensible question ; 
and it is no wonder there are doubters, since the large 
majority of persons who have been induced to plant 
the maclura, under the impression that the hedge 
would come of its own accord, have failed. But 
there have also been successes, and if one may suc- 
ceed in this enterprise, all may do the same : compe- 
tition among hedge-planters is a fair race, where all 
may win. 

C. R. Overman, in his prize-essay, gives the follow- 
ing causes of failure : 

" 1st. In many cases farmers have procured their 
instructions from agents and dealers in plants and 
seeds, who have not the first definite idea of what 
constitutes a hedge. 

" 2d. Many who have been furnished with proper 
directions have disregarded them ; while a few persons 



WHY THE MACLTTRA HEDGE HAS FAILED. 51 

who have essayed to enlighten the public, though 
qualified themselves to instruct, have given only a 
few of the leading, general directions, and omitted 
the minute, yet most essential and important points. 

" 3d. Numerous failures occur from mismanagement 
in the preparation of the ground, assorting, handling, 
and setting the plants, and neglecting to replant or fill 
vacancies at the proper time. 

" 4th. The most general mistake is in the wide dis- 
tance at which plants have been set in the row. In 
most cases, the planting has been twice as wide as it 
should be. So far as turning hogs is an object, the 
error of wide planting will be productive of more 
general failure than all others. 

" 5th. The almost universal neglect to cultivate and 
clip the hedge. The maclura is a free grower, with 
formidable spines, yet it cannot successfully contend 
with blue grass sod, nor with weeds that overtop it ; 
but if the clipping be omitted, whether cultivated or 
not, it will make anything hut a hedge. 

" 6th. Occasionally the hedge-row is planted in the 
shade of the fence, or under a row of trees, where it 
is impossible for it to grow to do any good. Other 
errors and abuses might be noticed, such as pasturing 
it while young, and treading it down by the stock ; 
but allusion to one more general error may suffice for 
the present. Competition in hedging and hedge- 
plants has so lowered the estimated cost of the finished 
hedge, that many think less of the importance of it, 
and consequently neglect it, because it is cheap. 

" To make a complete hedge is a very particular busi- 
ness, and requires the strict observance of certain con- 



52 HEDGING. 

ditions, which, though easy and simple as A B 0, are 
all of them backed by the imperative must, and ad- 
mit of no evasion. Yet, after all that has been said 
of a discouraging nature, every point in hedge-culture 
is so simple and easily understood, that none who un- 
dertake it need err on account of ignorance. If every- 
thing is done in season and in a proper ?nanner, it is 
comparatively a light j ob to make a hedge ; and there 
is, perhaps, no outlay of time, and care, and patience, 
that will better repay the farmer than in well-directed 
efforts in hedging. The cost of the maclura hedge 
may be set down at a lower figure than that of any 
effective wooden fence on the prairies. Some are ap- 
prehensive that it will require much care and labor 
to keep the hedge clipped and in proper order. To 
such we would say, that the hedge will need, and 
must have, its annual clipping ; but any man with a 
particle of taste will be amply repaid by the enhanced 
beauty and gracefulness of a well-shorn hedge. In- 
deed, an object more ornamental than a well-clipped, 
dense, and perfect hedge, cannot well be imagined to 
' set off' and beautify a farm." 

James McGrew, well-known to the agriculturists 
of Ohio as a practical farmer, has shown, upon his 
farm, near Dayton, Ohio, that he is also a good hedger, 
and that the Maclura is capable of making a perfect 
live-fence. Before leaving his former residence for a 
new home in the prairies of the West — where he is 
now largely engaged in hedging operations — Mr. 
McGrew wrote a paper upon this subject for the Ohio 
Agricultural Society, which is published in their 
Transactions, and from which I make the following 



WHY THE MACLURA HEDGE HAS FAILED. 53 

extract, in which he explains why these hedges 
fail: 

" In most instances, the planting and cultivating 
of Osage Orange hedges, have been about as follows : 
The seed was usually bought by men of means and 
curiosity, who had no knowledge of vegetating such 
seed; hence, a great portion of it was lost. The 
plants, however, that were obtained, were set in 
hedge-rows around gardens, vineyards, lots, and lawns, 
in and about towns and cities, crowded close to the 
fence, which precluded the possibility of giving it the 
proper cultivation. The ground was generally pre- 
pared by digging a trench twelve or eighteen inches 
wide, and a foot deep, throwing the earth back, and 
planting the hedge. 

" The cultivation amounted to nothing more than 
keeping the grass and weeds down, and even that was 
neglected after the first year. The hedge was fre- 
quently shaded by trees and shrubbery, with perhaps 
a tough sod on one, if not on both sides, within a foot 
of the hedge-row. I would here remark, that if the 
plants were designed to come up and form trees, they 
would soon take care of themselves, but as they are 
to be kept down, until they spread at the bottom, 
they must therefore receive thorough cultivation ; and 
everything else should be kept down around them, 
to prevent their being smothered or choked. This 
should be remembered as a very important item in 
hedge-growing. The trimming, of course, was done 
according to the then prescribed method, which was 
more theoretical than otherwise. With this slight 
attention, it was expected to make a. fence that would 
be a model of perfection. 



54: HEDGES. 

" In fact, many of those persons who were engaged 
in selling seed and plants, represented it as the easiest 
thing in natnre to grow an Osage Orange hedge. But 
what has been the result ? Do not the mock hedges 
all over the land speak of the folly of such a course ? 
Does a reasonable man expect to make any valuable 
and permanent improvement by slighting it, or stint- 
ing its cost, so as to obtain it at one-fourth, or even 
one-half the real value of making such improvement. 
"We do not act upon any such principle in other mat- 
ters, nor can such a course be successful in this. The 
greatest error that now exists in the public mind, 
relative to this matter, is the idea, that any and every 
body can grow an invaluable hedge of the Osage 
Orange, at comparatively no cost at all. This view 
is incorrect : it is ruinous in its effects, and has 
done more to hinder the successful introduction of 
hedges than any other error that has been propagated. 
This notion has been disseminated through the public 
mind by those who have had no interest or concern in 
this matter, further than the sale of their seed and 
plants. The evil must now be counteracted, before 
this great improvement can assume its true character. 

" In consequence of the mistaken ideas that have 
been advanced, many have been wofully disappointed, 
and are now disposed to pronounce the whole thing a 
humbug. Why ! says one, there is Mr. A.'s hedge, 
that has been planted two or three years, and his 
hostler has been attending to it, and now it is barely 
a respectable row of briers. And there's Mr. B.'s, his 
tenant has been managing his, but it don't amount to 
anything. And there's Mr. O.'s, his gardener attended 



SELECTING THE SEED. 55 

his, and I know he attended to it well the first year ; 
but then it's so open at the bottom, that it's of no 
account. 

" In view of these facts, I do not wonder that people 
have been discouraged about having hedges succeed. 
It was after having witnessed just such a state of 
affairs as this, that Col. Medary stated, in his paper, 
4 That he had reluctantly almost come to the conclu- 
sion that hedging was a species of inclosure that was 
of doubtful economy.' It was the existence of these 
would-be hedges, such as I have described, that caused 
so many members of your Board, last year, at the 
annual meetings, to question the practicability of 
hedging. All had seen hedges that were two, three, 
and four years old, which were not only useless, but 
a nuisance to the farms upon which they were grow- 
ing. And yet, perhaps, not one of those who con- 
demned the subject of hedging had ever taken the 
trouble to inquire closely into the true method of 
growing a hedge, and then compare the practice that 
had been adopted, in most cases, to see whether they 
would correspond — thereby settling the matter beyond 
doubt in their own minds. 

Selecting the Seed. — "Without further parley or 
introduction, therefore, let us proceed to a detailed 
statement of the maclura matter, from the seed to the 
finished fence. For, though it is not at all advised to 
commence with the seed, while plants can be pur- 
chased at the present rates, some persons will prefer, 
and in some situations it will be more convenient, to 
wait another year, and sow the seed. In purchasing 
this article, care should be taken that it be fresh, and 



56 HEDGING. 

that its vitality be perfect. Good seed is heavy and 
bright, and should give the sensation of coldness to 
the hand, when immersed into it. When crushed, it 
should have a plump, white kernel, and should not 
have a rancid flower. 

This plant produces an abundance of large fruit, 
resembling an orange externally — hence the common 
name by which it is so generally known ; internally, 
however, there is no resemblance to that delicious fruit, 
but a tough, bitter, stringy mass, filled with seeds that 
are closely packed together, all radiating from the 
centre toward the circumference, like those of the 
sycamore or buttonwood. The older trees bear fruit 
in their new Northern homes, when properly situated 
for impregnation, for the plant is dioecious. There 
are, hereabouts, many specimens that perfect their 
seed, but the chief supply of the seed in market 
comes from the South, where the trees abound. The 
seed is separated from the pulp by rotting ; and if the 
fermentation be allowed to proceed a little too far, 
the vitality of the germs may be destroyed before 
they are sent to market. After washing, they require 
to be thoroughly dried, otherwise they. will mold and 
heat, if put up in large bulk. This may be easily 
detected ; the germ will be dark. The weight of clean 
seed when thoroughly dry, Overman says, is from 
thirty-two to thirty-five pounds per bushel. Seeds 
carefully kept will grow at two years old, but require 
a little more care in germinating them. The seed, 
when dried and ready for the market, in Texas, weighs 
thirty-five pounds to the bushel, but it continues to 
shrink for several months. 



GERMINATING THE SEED. 57 

Germinating or Sprouting the Seed. — Having se- 
lected your seed, fresh, and plump, as the market may 
afford, not caring to have* it remarkably clean from 
the naturally investing gum of the fruit, the first 
object, before planting, should be to scald it, by pour- 
ing upon it boiling water, which should be drained 
off, and the seed is to be then kept covered snugly, 
until it has swollen, and is ready to sprout ; this will 
require about a week, more or less, according to the 
temperature. While it is in this state, it should be 
frequently stirred, to prevent the fermentation which 
would be very apt to commence in a large mass of 
wet seed. 

Henry Shaw, of Tazewell county, in a communica- 
tion to the State Agricultural Society, recommends 
that the seed should, if possible, be of the previous 
season's growth ; older seed being much less certain 
to grow. 

About the first of March, wet the seed by put- 
ting them in soak, and letting them remain about 
forty-eight hours, after which they are to be spread, 
not more than six inches in depth, in some cool place 
secure from mice, and kept moist by spreading over 
them wet sacks or moss in sufficient quantity to con- 
fine the moisture, but not so much as to cause danger 
of heating or fermentation. Keep them in this state 
until they commence sprouting, when they should be 
sown immediately. Seed received too late for the 
above process may be sprouted by wetting frequently 
in warm water, pouring the same off immediately. 
In a few days, if the weather is warm, they will com- 
mence sprouting. The water used may be near the 

3* 



58 HEDGING. 

boiling-point, but will answer just as well at a tem- 
perature of 100 degrees. 

C. R. Overman, above quoted, says: "That the 
most effectual way to prepare the seed for vegetating 
is, to soak it forty-eight hours in warm water (about 
the close of Winter), and then expose it to hard freez- 
ing. Once or twice is sufficient, but care must be 
taken to spread it out so that all parts may be frozen 
alike. After this the seed must be kept moist and 
cool as possible, to prevent sprouting too early, or 
before the ground or the weather is in proper condi- 
tion for planting. If seeds are much sprouted before 
planting, the roots will be crooked. After being 
frozen, the surest way to keep the seed right is, to put 
it into an ice-house, and keep it there till within a 
week of the time you wish to plant. It may, how- 
ever, be kept in any cool or shaded place, covered 
from the mice, and kept moist." 

The method of sprouting seed without the freezing 
process, is as follows : 

Put the seed in a vessel, and cover it with water 
as warm as you can bear to your hand. Keep the 
vessel near the stove, change the water once a day, 
and soak the seed about five days, after which turn 
off the water, and keep the vessel covered with a damp 
cloth. The seed should not be more than four or five 
inches deep in the vessel, as in this condition they are 
liable to heat if kept too much in bulk. Stir occa- 
sionally, and in about one week more, if kept in a 
warm room, they will begin to start, and should be 
planted before a fourth of them sprout." 

Planting the Seed. — In the meantime, ground is to 



PLANTING THE SEED. 59 

be prepared by deep plowing, and thorough harrow- 
ing ; if the soil be somewhat sandy, so much the better, 
as it will be less liable to bake, or form a crust above 
the young plants, as they issue from the germinating 
seeds, and start on in their upward and aerial 
career. 

The seed having been prepared, and the ground 
rendered mellow, by thorough tillage, and of all things, 
the weather being mild and pleasant, say, in this lati- 
tude, about the 1st to the 15th of May, we may pro- 
ceed to planting or sowing the seed, which should be 
done as follows : "With a line stretched across the plot 
selected, shallow furrows are to be made with the hoe, 
as for planting peas or beans. These rows maybe 18 
to 24 inches apart, or more, so as to admit of horse- 
tillage during the summer. In these drills, the seeds 
are to be thickly and evenly strewn, so as to lie about 
an inch apart, and immediately covered with a little 
fine earth, drawn up over them in a decided ridge, 
that shall bury them about two or three inches deep, 
according to the condition of the soil, as to dampness, 
and according to the dryness of the weather ; shallow, 
if there be a prospect of rain, and deeper, if threat- 
ened with drought. If you have access to a drill- 
barrow, that is adapted to seed of this size, use it by 
all means, as a labor-saving engine of great import- 
ance, and enabling you to distribute the seed with 
much more regularity than can be done by hand. 

The object of throwing up a ridge over the seed, 
is two-fold ; first, it shows you the precise position the 
young plants are to occupy ; and, secondly, it enables 
you to pass along, just before they emerge, and 



60 HEDGING. 



remove the crust of earth which is apt to form after 
rain, and with it to destroy a first crop of young 
weeds ; this is done with a light garden-rake, and it 
is a very important aid to the starting of the young 
plants, in their first efforts to make their struggles in 
the battle of life, especially if the seeds have been 
intrusted to a clayey soil. Those who attempt to 
grow the Madura from seed, in stiff clay soils, will 
experience great difficulty in getting the young plants 
above the surface, unless they pay particular attention 
to these directions ; such soils will bake, and form a 
resisting crust, that will prevent most of the young 
plants from emerging ; and in such a soil, you will 
also find the weeds very troublesome ; whereas, by a 
light raking down of the little ridge, the crust, and 
an infinite number of weeds, are easily destroyed, and 
the young seedlings are not only freed from hinder- 
ance, but are really accelerated in their growth by 
the culture thus applied. 

About the middle of May, Mr. JSTeff advises cover- 
ing the seeds in the drills, that are a foot apart, with 
leaf-mold from the woods, to prevent baking. If 
the seeds are well soaked, they will all make their 
appearance before the weeds and grass start to inter- 
fere with them. So soon as they are well up, he re- 
commends mulching with leaves, cut-straw, saw-dust, 
or tan-bark, which are named in the order he thinks 
they answer best. The whole ground is to be covered 
(but not the plants), thick enough to smother the 
grass and weeds, thus saving all trouble of hoeing 
and weeding. 

The large cultivators of the Madura, on the Illinois 






PLANTING THE SEED. 61 

prairies, who sow by the bushel and by the acre, have 
greatly the advantage in their soil, and in their ex- 
emption from weeds. Mr. Shaw recommends that 
" The gronnd on which the seeds are to be sown should 
be new and clean prairie, broken early the previous 
Summer, and well plowed and harrowed on the ap- 
proach of cold weather ; the Winter freezing will then 
leave it in a mellow condition for the reception of the 
seeds. Previous to planting, a good roller should be 
passed over the ground, to break clods and smooth 
the surface, which will make it much easier to deposit 
the seed at a uniform depth. If the ground has been 
reduced to a mellow condition, the seed may be sown 
to the best advantage by the use of a wheat-drill — 
raising every alternate tooth, so that the rows will 
average about eighteen inches apart. Before planting, 
the seeds must be dried sufficiently to prevent all 
clogging. The driver then proceeds in the same man- 
ner as when sowing wheat, except that more pains is 
taken to have the rows straight than in common wheat 
culture. In this manner, three men, or one man and 
two boys, will plant ten bushels of seed per day. 
Where the land is too rough, or in any way unfit for 
the use of the drill, sow by hand in the following 
manner : Stretch a line, and mark by the line, two 
drills, one foot apart, and two inches deep, with a 
broad-toothed rake, made for the purpose ; repeating 
the operation at the distance of every four feet. Cover, 
say two inches in depth. At the distance of one rod, 
each way, all over the seed-beds, sow one or two cas- 
tor-beans, to keep away moles." 

Overman advises that : " Ground for the seed-bed 



62 HEDGING. 

should be rich and well-handled. Prairie sod, broken 
the previous year and well-rotted, is greatly to be 
preferred, and it should be deeply plowed the previous 
Fall, and well pulverized before planting. Procure a 
strong line, long enough to reach across your ground, 
a garden-rake, and a drill-rake, with two teetlya foot 
apart. The teeth may be made of iron or wood, about 
three inches in width, a fourth or a half an inch thick, 
and tapering or rounding to the end. Stretch your 
line and set it ; next rake the border smooth and line, 
then by drawing the drill-rake along the line, you 
make two furrows at once, a foot apart, rather wide 
and shallow, about two inches deep, in which sow the 
seeds regularly in the drills, about twenty-five seeds 
to the foot, or two seeds to the inch. Before the seeds 
have time to dry, cover them about two inches deep, 
with fine, mellow soil. A space two feet wide should 
be left between the double rows, and if the ground is 
likely to be foul, three feet, to admit the cultivator. 
If the weather be favorable, and the seeds properly 
sprouted, the plants will appear in a few days ; but 
if beating rains and hot sun should cause the ground 
to bake before they come up, the crust should be 
broken to assist them. 

Nursery Culture. — The treatment of the young 
plants, after having watched them safely emerged 
from the soil, and after having relieved them from the 
crust that sometimes forms upon the surface, will con- 
sist in setting them up if prostrated by storms, the 
occasional stirring of the soil, and the destruction of 
weeds. This may be done by horse-cultivators and 
by hand-hoeing. If too thick, they may be thinned 



NURSERY CULTURE. 63 

at mid-summer, by pulling out the smaller plants. 
They should always be sown by drill, and cultivated 
by horse-power, when grown in large quantities. 

Taking up the Plants. — The young seedlings will 
continue to grow until late in the season, and in the 
Autumn will not have ripened their wood, but will 
frequently be covered with soft green foliage, when 
their growth is checked by the frost. Soon after this 
occurs, they must be cut off near the ground, either 
with a brush-scythe, or better, with the mowing- 
machine ; after which, a furrow is opened near the 
outside rows, and the next passage of a sharp plow 
will throw the plants out with the furrow. Boys then 
gather up the plants, either by hand, or aided by that 
useful implement the potato-rake, and tie them 
snugly in bundles of one hundred — using a willow, 
or packing-yarn. 

Mr. Shaw uses a coulter, similar to the old-fashioned 
bull-tongued plow, run on both sides of every row, to 
break or loosen the side roots. A subsoil plow, in- 
vented for the purpose by C. R. Overman, and manu- 
factured at Canton, 111., is then run under each 
row, cutting the main root, when it only remains to 
pull out all inferior plants and throw them away, and 
to pull the good plants, counting them in each bundle, 
and bury them in dirt in a good cellar, or they may 
be buried like potatoes, on a dry spot of ground. If 
not dug in the Fall, they generally stand till Spring 
without much injury. Still, the Fall is preferable, 
because it is a season of greater leisure, and because 
it affords an opportunity to prepare the plants for 
setting, during the Winter. 



64 HEDGING. 



Digging the plants in the Autumn has many ad 
vantages, among which are : the dryer condition of 
the soil, at that season ; less hurry than in the Spring ; 
avoidance of the effects of frost in drawing them out 
of the ground, and injuring their bark ; and the further 
convenience of having them ready for sale, and ship- 
ment, at a moment's notice. If left in the ground all 
Winter, those that escape the drawing, and conse- 
quent injury by frost, are likely to start their buds 
earlier than those that were dug in the Autumn ; and 
thus they will receive a severe check, from digging, 
if this operation has been delayed by the hurry of the 
season, or by wet weather. 

C. R. Overman thinks the digging may be best done 
with a subsoil-cutter, a plow without the mould-board, 
made for the purpose. It is drawn by a strong team, 
and may be regulated to any depth. If kept sharp, 
it cuts the roots off smoothly, and leaves the plants 
standing, but easy to pull up and assort at the same 
time. The plants may be tied in bundles of one or 
two hundred, with bass-bark or willow ; he cuts the 
roots at eight inches depth. 

Wintering the Plants — Sorting. — To preserve the 
young plants during the Winter, they may be simply 
" heeled in," or placed in some moderately damp earth, 
in the cellar. In large quantities, they may be stacked 
up loosely, in the field, with alternate layers of earth, 
and covered over with dirt, as is customary with 
potatoes, or turnips — the object being simply to pre- 
serve them in a moderately moist state, rather to 
prevent their exposure and drying than to exclude 






PUDDLING, TRENCHING IN. 65 

the frost, which, is not injurious, except when the roots 
are exposed to the air and sunshine. 

Others advise that they be kept by packing closely 
in a dry cellar, covering lightly with earth, saw-dust, 
&c, to exclude the frost and prevent drying. It is 
important to have them well preserved. 

To secure an even plantation in the hedge, the plants 
should be assorted when dug, or when bundled for 
setting, or for sale. Each class should be kept 
separate, though many consider the healthy small 
plants quite as good as those of larger growth. 

Puddling — Trenching in. — 0. R. Overman has 
made an excellent suggestion as to the treatment of 
the young plants, which is supposed to apply to the 
Spring season, after they have been brought out of 
"Winter quarters ; it is, puddling the roots — a valuable 
process even with this fleshy root, which is remark- 
ably tenacious of life. He prepares what he calls a 
grout, or mortar, by mixing equal parts of cow-dung 
and clay, well beaten together, and made thin enough 
to admit the roots, into which they are to be dipped, 
a handful at a time, so that all parts of the roots are 
coated with it. Next, dig a sloping trench, into which 
lay the plants straight, with the roots even, the tops 
above the surface, sift in fine dirt among the roots, 
and cover two inches deeper than the top of the roots ; 
tread the ground firm, and if the weather be dry, 
sprinkle twice a week. In this condition let them 
remain a few weeks, and when vegetation commences, 
they will be ready to set out into the hedge-row. 
Plants and trees thus treated will start earlier than 
if planted out at once ; and if properly set, will grow 



66 HEDGING. 






more readily and certainly without being checked by 
the removal, even though planted in full leaf, if damp 
weather supervene. 

In June, I set my Maclura-hedges with plants thus 
treated, all of which succeed remarkably well ; an espe- 
cial advantage in starting the plants before setting is, 
that if any are defective, it is easy to detect them. A 
few of the strongest and best plants should be left in 
the trench, so that in case any should fail in the row, 
their places may be filled the same season ; and it 
may be successfully done, even a month after plant- 
ing, by choosing a moist time, and pinching off the 
leaves and young shoots. It is extremely difficult to 
get replants to succeed well in a hedge-row that has 
grown even one season, and almost impossible 
afterwards. 

Jas. McGrew takes up his plants by cutting the 
roots 8 inches deep with a subsoil-plow of his own 
construction, very like Mapes' lifting subsoil, but of 
steel, and kept sharp. The plants are then drawn, and 
in the cellar they are sorted, counted, tied in bundles, 
and the tops cut with a hatchet or axe ; when they are 
packed in boxes, about 3 feet by 18 or 20 inches deep 
and wide : the cases should not be tight, lest the roots 
mold — those I have received from him were in very 
good order. 

The further management of the plants will be 
treated of in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER Y. 

Hedge-making — How to do it — Preparation op the Hedge-row— 
Setting the Plants — Distance — Culture the First Year — Shall 
the Hedge be Trimmed ? 

"We now approach the most important part of the 
subject that has yet been presented for elucidation 
in this volume. Most persons who will look to these 
pages for information respecting the art of hedging, 
will not care to trouble themselves with the seed and 
seedlings, so long as the market is supplied by the 
nurserymen, with good plants, at a much lower rate 
than they can be produced by the amateur, or in the 
small way. 

Preparation of the Hedge-row. — Those who expect 
good crops, and intend to produce them, are aware 
of the great importance of a thorough preparation of j 
the soil. So with the hedge ; its success will depend, 
in a great measure, upon the manner in which the 
ground has been prepared for its reception. Deep 
plowing, and even subsoiling, has been highly recom- 
mended. In the prairies, or other wild, uncultivated 
lands, the sod should have been broken up some 
months previously, so as to become mellow, and then 
deeply stirred in the Spring, and freshly harrowed 
before planting, which should be done just as the 
plants are ready to start. 

Overman advises that : " In planting hedges upon 



68 HEDGING. 

the new prairie soils, the wild sod should be broken 
up one season, and left to rot. If sufficiently decayed, 
it should be deeply plowed in the Fall, and left to the 
action of the frost during the Winter. In the Spring, 
the land should be plowed by throwing the furrows 
outward, leaving a deep dead-furrow in the middle, 
where the hedge is to stand ; if the ground be rolling, 
dams and side ditches should be formed at intervals, 
so as to prevent washing. Near planting-time, if the 
ground be cloddy, let it be well harrowed until quite 
mellow, then gather the furrows, by plowing from 
both sides into the middle ; and thus form a deep bed, 
in which it will be easy to plant, and where the roots 
may grow freely. This bed should be allowed to 
settle a few days before planting, so that the roots 
may not be left bare by the sinking of the earth. 

In some cases it will not be convenient to prepare 
the ground by the plow, but we are forced to use the 
spade, or the mattock. We should still remember to 
stir the soil deeply, nor should we rest satisfied with 
less than six feet width of the bed in which to set the 
hedge. Whether plowed or dug, if wild land, crop- 
ping with potatoes will be a good preparatory step. 

Shaw advises that : " The ground should be in good 
condition ; that is, dry enough and mellow enough to 
raise a good crop of corn. If it is new ground, which 
is best, prepare in the same manner as for planting 
seeds. Have your line surveyed before preparing it ; 
find exactly where you want the hedge to stand, put 
a tall stake at each end, and perhaps several between, 
if it is a long line ; plow first out from the row on 
both sides, then finish by back-furrowing, so as to 



SETTING THE PLANTS. 69 

leave trie row a trine higher than the surrounding 
surface, to throw off standing water. Harrow and 
roll the ground well, and set stakes in a straight line 
with those at the ends, every five rods. Stretch a line 
of cotton cord, six inches to one side of these stakes, 
for a guide in setting the plants. Prepare the plant 
for setting, by thinning off all side roots, and cutting 
back the main root to about eight inches in length." 

The character of the soil will have a great influence 
upon the future of the hedge. It were folly to expect 
this Maclura, which is the native of the deep bottom 
lands, bordering upon the Southern rivers, to succeed 
equally well in stiff clays, light sands, wet spongy 
soils, or dry rocky places. It needs a good dry soil, 
suitable for corn, but may be made to grow well on 
almost any dry soil, with proper care and preparation. 
Spouty lands should be drained ; low, wet places may 
be filled up by ditching, on either or both sides, 
raising an embankment, which should be fully eight 
feet wide. This may often be done by the plow alone, 
or by using the scraper also, where horses can be 
worked, otherwise the spade must be resorted to. 

Setting the Plants. : — Various plans have FI e- 1 * 
been practiced for performing this work : the 
trowel, the dibble, the spade, and even the 
plow, have been suggested. My own favorite 
mode of proceeding is, to stretch a line upon 
the course of the future hedge, on the mellow 
and well-prepared soil, a clean spade is pressed 
deeply into the ground, the blade being in a 

* Fig. 1 represents the maiden hedge-plant trimmed at each end, top and root, 
and set in the hedge-row with the young shoots starting from it at a. 







70 HEDGING. 

vertical direction, and close to the line ; pushing the 
handle from yon, a crack is opened to the depth of the 
instrument ; into this the little plant is inserted, with 
the left hand, and retained in its position, while the 
spade is withdrawn, and until it is turned, with its 
face toward the operator, and again inserted, at a 
distance of three inches from the first cut, in such a 
direction, that when pressed home, the edge shall 
reach the point of the first cut, near the place occu- 
pied by the root of the plant, when it is to be drawn 
firmly toward the operator, to fix the plant in its place. 
This operation is rapid and very simple ; in its first 
introduction, the Made is to be perpendicular or ver- 
tical, with its back toward you ; in the second, the 
handle is to be upright, and the cavity of the blade 
should be held toward the digger ; observing this 
simple rule, the result will be obtained, and the plants 
will be rapidly and firmly set in the ground : the pro- 
cess is so exceedingly simple, that any person may 
soon acquire dexterity in its performance ; it is prefer- 
able to any other method of planting that I have seen. 
The distance maybe regulated by the eye, and a little 
practice will give sufficient accuracy. I generally 
advise to leave the width of the spade between the 
two consecutive openings made by the instrument, for 
the hedge-plants. 

Shaw, and many others, prefer to set the plants 
with a dibble, made by sharpening the upper half of 
an old shovel handle, and covering it with tin or iron 
to prevent the dirt from adhering. Insert this ten 
inches, and on withdrawing it, you have a space to 
receive the root; put the plant down two inches 



SETTING THE PLANTS. 



71 



deeper than it grew ; press the dirt well around it 
with another stroke of the dibble, and the operation 
is finished. 

To C. E. Overman, on account of his great experi- 
ence, we should defer in this important point of prac- 
tice. After trying various methods of transplanting, 
he recommends the use of the trowel, which is made 
with a blade ten inches long and three inches wide, a 
quarter of an inch thick in the middle, and thin on 
the edges, and oval at the point. A curved shank 
supports a wooden handle at a right-angle with the 
blade, and on a plane with its edges. To work well, 
the trowel must be ground, and polished, and kept 
bright. The line should be light, strong cord, and, 
for convenience, about ten rods long. 

When all is ready for the work, set the stakes at 

the ends. By these set as many intervening stakes 

as may be necessary, exactly in range. Do not forget 

that the beauty of the hedge depends greatly upon 

the straightness of the row ; if planted crooked, it can 

never be made to appear well. Eake the ridge down 

level with the surface, taking out the coarse clods, 

&c, for about the length of your hedge-line. Tie the 

ends of the line to stiff stakes, three or four feet long, 

set these line-stakes to correspond exactly with the 

range-stakes ; stick several small pegs, with hitches 

cut in them, along the line, to keep it steady. As it 

is easier to work on your knees, you will provide 

thick knee-pads for them. On removing the plants 

from the trench, puddle them again. To proceed with 

the planting, take the trowel in the right hand, thrust 

it down its whole length, press the outer edge to the 



72 HEDGING. 

right, with a twist, thus forming an opening, into 
which, with the left hand, insert the plant, two inches 
deeper than it stood in the nursery. Raise the trowel 
and pnt it down an inch or so from the plant, as deep 
as before, give it a twist towards the plant, and thns 
compress the dirt around the root. In this manner 
proceed to the end of the line, when another section 
may be raked, and the line carried forward. Finish 
by treading firmly on each side of the row, and your 
hedge will be planted on scientific principles. 

The method of planting with the spade is more sim- 
ple, and less care is required in preparing the ground 
A long narrow spade is thrust down by the side of the 
line, at an angle of about forty-five degrees, as deep 
as twelve inches or thereabouts. The spade is then 
raised slightly, and the plant thrust down under it 
nearly its whole length, and held till the spade is 
withdrawn, and the ground should be tramped above 
the plant. In this way, a man with a spade, and a 
boy to stick in the plants, will easily set a half mile 
a day. Another advantage is, that the side-roots do 
not require to be trimmed off. There is no reason 
why plants set in this way should not grow as well as 
when planted uprightly ; they start a little earlier in 
this position. The only particular points are, to plant 
firm enough and de&p enough, and to be certain that 
the roots are not too near the surface. Each plant 
should be critically examined, and not one that looks 
in the least doubtful should be used. 

It is very desirable, when planting a hedge, to set 
some of the best plants in a nursery row, as a corps 
de reserve, from which to fill up any gaps that may 



FALL PLANTING. 73 

occur. In adopting the plan of puddling and late 
planting, recommended at the close of the last chapter, 
a few plants should be left in the trenches, from which 
they may be taken to the hedge during the first 
Summer. It is very desirable to have the row com- 
plete; and it is difficult to succeed in replanting, 
unless great care be taken, and the new plants should 
be rather better than those in the row already 
established. 

L. H. Ide, in a communication to The Prairie 
Farmer ', says, he intends planting three miles in the 
Fall, which he would do by covering them entirely 
in a trench or furrow. It is a new way; but if it 
succeeds well, it will be a great relief from the pressure 
of work in the Spring. The inference from this ap- 
pears to be, that he intended to set them in a furrow, 
and cover them with the plow, which would greatly 
simplify the labor ; but perhaps he only intends, that 
after having planted them in the usual way, he would 
cover them by throwing a furrow against them as a 
protection from the frost. I have seen quince-cuttings 
and willows "planted by dropping them in a furrow, 
and covering with a light plow, when, if rolled, or 
trodden along the row, they grew very well ; but were 
liable to be jostled from the right line, which would 
not be very well for a hedge, still, the saving of labor 
might compensate for this. 

The suggestion of Fall planting is very attractive, 
on account of the fine weather and comparative leisure 
at that time, and the great hurry that prevails in the 
vernal season. The experiment, however, has not 
been sufficiently tried ; and we know that there need 

4 



74: HEDGING. 

be no hurry in planting maclura in the Spring, since 
they may be in leaf, and bear the removal very well, 
if they have been properly prepared by puddling and 
trenching-in. 

Up to this point, the reader will have observed, 
that all the plans proposed were, for setting a single 
row in the hedge. Others have preferred a double 
row in the quincunx or alternate order, and some have 
even suggested a triple, alternate row. In a com- 
munication, sent by ¥m. Neff to the Western Horti- 
cultural Review, in which are many valuable sug- 
gestions, he says, the tops being cut off to about six 
inches, and the roots trimmed, set the plants in a 
double row six inches apart, diagonally. Thus : 

*Tfo5tT* * * * *:;■■.■#'■■.*■-.<*..'..■* 

«£ I* -X- # -K- *■ * -X- •& * 

a foot apart in each row, making them equal to six 
inches in a single row. He also advises that, as soon 
as the plants are set, they should be mulched deeply 
with leaves, straw, saw-dust, or tan-bark, and they 
will need no further attention till the next Spring. 
To avoid the attacks of moles, he recommends that 
the ground be made dishing, so that the plants should 
be two or three inches lower than the sides : this, he 
says, has proved an effectual preventive, and he thinks 
the plants do all the better for it. Where there is no 
danger of an accumulation of water about the plants, 
I have preferred this form of the bed, in which the 
hedge-row is to be planted, but for a different object; 
that of having the choice of filling in with the plow 



DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PLANTS. 75 

about the hedge, should there be a defect in the 
lower branches. Never plant the hedge on the top of a 
narrow ridge, for the earth will gradually wash away 
and leave openings — and hogs will be liable to root it 
away, and make gaps, as well as injure the plants by 
exposing the roots. 

The distance between the plants is another very 
important matter, to have decided. I consider that 
most writers and planters have committed the great 
error of crowding. The different plants used in 
hedging are so varied in their habits, that no fixed 
rule can be laid down for all of them, but be sure to 
avoid setting the plants too closely. Plants like the 
Honey-locust, for instance, which in our forests often 
attains a diameter of three feet, or more, and the 
Bodark, which, in a few years grows to the thick- 
ness of one foot, need space, or they will inevitably 
be smothered. To place them in a single row, four, 
five, or six inches apart, or in a double row, alternat- 
ing plants and spaces, as so often recommended, even 
at nine inches apart in the rows, would surely result, 
sooner or later, in the death of most of the plants. For 
the former, I should prefer three feet intervals, in a 
single row ; for the latter, twelve, eighteen, or twenty 
inches ; and this conclusion is supported by experience, 
and is not a mere theoretical speculation. 

For the smaller growing shrubs, a less space should 
be allowed ; but no hedge-plant, unless intended for 
a mere screen, and to produce a very hasty effect, 
should ever be planted closer than nine inches. The 
roses would all do better at three feet or more ; the 
same distance, or greater, would answer for the ever- 



76 HEDGING. 

greens : even the Swedish jnniper, so remarkably 
upright in its habit, would soon fill up the space of 
three feet from stem to stem. Altheas, Barberries, 
Privet, Beeches, Thorns, Buckthorns — indeed, almost 
any hedge-plant, unless it be of a very delicate growth, 
will thrive better, and make a much handsomer and 
more durable fence or screen, if planted at two or 
three feet, than if less than one ; and even if it be 
objected, that a year more is required to complete the 
work, what is that, in the case of a fence which is to 
last for fifty yelirs or more, in comparison with the 
prospect of frequent gaps, occasioned by starvation 
and the suffocation of the plants % 

Another serious error is frequently committed by 
hedge-planters, which should be especially avoided ; 
this is, crowding the line too near a fence — five feet is 
the least distance that should ever be allowed. I am 
satisfied, from the character of the Madura, not only 
in its native haunts, but even here in the North, that 
it would be most unreasonable to expect success, 
health, and longevity, where trees, of naturally free 
growth, are crowded within narrow limits. I have 
often observed and pointed out this error, and uni- 
formly advise more space, and direct the stocks to be 
set in a single line, not closer than a foot apart ; nor 
would I thank any person to furnish me a hedge ready 
planted, at six inches, in a double row — preferring, 
infinitely, a single row, at eighteen inches distance. 

I cannot, however, approve of another fallacy, 
which has been urged with some vehemence, that of 
planting at four or five feet apart, for the sake of eco- 
nomizing plants, by bending down vigorous canes, in 



DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PLANTS. 77 

either direction, in the expectation that a forest of 
upright *shoots will start up from every joint. Such 
a project must be followed bj disappointment; and 
the reason may be explained upon the plain and sim- 
ple principles of vegetable physiology. The higher 
buds are always disposed to break first, and to produce 
the most vigorous shoots : if a strong cane of Madura 
be bent down toward a horizontal position, its elas- 
ticity will almost inevitably cause it to assume an 
arched position, so that some one bud will become the 
highest, and this will produce a leader or main shoot. 
Even though this horizontal training may be followed 
by a tolerably even crop of shoots, some one will very 
soon make itself the master ; the rest will immediately 
become subordinates, and most will eventually die 
out — leaving gaps that will be troublesome. 

I am well aware that I stand almost alone in this 
position as to wide planting; and therefore, though 
my convictions are very strong, it is but fair and 
proper, that others, who have had great experience, 
should also be heard. Overman occupies the opposite 
extreme from me on this question ; he claims, that for 
an ordinary hedge, it is now generally conceded, that 
the plants should be set from four to six inches apart ; 
not wider. 

Shaw, of Tazewell, 111., tells us to set the plants at 
the distance of from four to six inches. The greatest 
error, heretofore, has been in setting the plants too 
far apart. E. Miller, of Waverly, 111., tells us, in the 
Morgan Journal, that considerable improvement has 
been made in the cultivation of the hedge, within the 
last two or three years. The plan of setting the plants 



78 HEDGING. 

eight or ten inches apart, and then lopping them nnder 
each other, after one year's growth, is evidently bad 
policy; far better to set them sufficiently close to 
make a dense hedge without lopping down at all. 
C. G. Taylor, of Rock-Island, HI., plants with a dibble, 
at eight and ten inches apart. 

L. H. Ide, above quoted, is very ultra in his com- 
munication : " And first, my experience and observa- 
tion prove to me, that where plants are set from eight 
to twelve inches apart in the rows, the frequent cut- 
tings necessary to thicken it sufficiently at the bottom, 
retard the growth of the hedge more than would the 
crowding of the plants into half that space ; and that 
the fine limbs that at first fill the spaces between the 
stems, and invariably grow downward and dwindle, 
will in a few years die and fall off; which will leave 
holes for snakes, if not for pigs, and possibly for good 
sized shotes, in some cases. I have been an attentive 
observer, as well as something of an experimenter in 
this business for five or six years, and am confident, 
that scientific hedge-growers will continue to make 
failures, till they set closer and cut less. I shall never 
set over four inches apart in the row, for the future ; 
nor cut more than once a year, for a common hedge- 
fence, after the bottom is thick enough, which can 
generally be secured by the first cutting, with plants 
four inches apart." To this the Editor of the Prairie 
Farmer adds, that several good hedge-growers have 
said the same thing ; and that he would set the plants 
as close as five to six inches, because the stems would 
then take care of all holes in the hedge. 

These opinions are given for what they are worth, 



CULTURE IN FIRST YEAR PRUNING. Y9 

and some of the writers rank very high as experienced 
hedgers : yet I cannot coincide with them, while my 
observation of facts, and my reasoning on deductions 
therefrom, teach me to anticipate serious evils from 
crowding, as intimated on a previous page. The only 
circumstances under which it would be proper to an- 
ticipate producing a live-fence, by means of the stems 
of, the hedge-plants, would be, where, from excessive 
moisture and spoutiness of the land, the Madura would 
not succeed, and the gap had been planted with cut- 
tings of the golden or yellow willow — which is well 
adapted to such ground, and which can be kept within 
bounds by making it a pollard, trimming off all the 
twigs every Spring. I have planted this willow in 
the line of a hedge, setting them very close ; and by 
this annual trimming, the stalks were kept small ; but 
being set closely, the gap, that would otherwise have 
been caused by the water, was closed effectually : this 
style of growing plants, however, can never be recom- 
mended for a permanent effect. Such treatment will 
inevitably cause premature decay. 

Culture during the First Tear — Shall the Hedge 
le Pruned f — After planting, there is little to do during 
the first year or two, but to encourage the growth of 
the hedge, by keeping the ground perfectly mellow, 
with a frequent use of the Cultivator, so as to prevent 
entirely the growth of weeds — vigorous shoots will 
spring up, and often attain the height of several feet, 
with weaker stalks sprawling about near the ground. 
Let all grow ; their business or function is, to produce 
good strong roots, that may be able to give us a fine 



80 HEDGING. 

crop of shoots the next season. Mulching the ground, 
instead of culture, has been recommended. 

If the ground should become dry after planting, 
Overman recommends that two shallow furrows 
should be thrown to the row, on either side. Then 
when the grass and weeds appear, plow lightly, 
throwing the furrow outward from the row, and 
scrape off the surface between the plants with the hoe. 
These successive plowings to be thrown to and from 
the hedge, as often as the weeds and grass appear, till 
mid-summer. Late in the Autumn, throw two rather 
heavy furrows to the row, forming a ridge about it to 
protect the roots ; for if the tops be frozen, it is no 
matter, as they are to be cut off the following Spring. 
At the last Summer plowing or cultivating, one or 
two rows of turnips may be drilled in on each side of 
the hedge, as they will come off in time for the Fall 
plowing. 

The hedge will rarely require trimming during the 
first year. A writer in The Prairie Farmer — perhaps 
one of the Editors, in an article upon Hedging, criti- 
cises the plan of allowing the hedge-plants to have 
free and unrestrained growth the first season ; he does 
not appear to set a sufficient value upon the consider- 
ation that the plant requires to be thoroughly estab- 
lished and well-rooted before the severe trimming is 
commenced. He asks : 

" To what purpose is all this waste ? None what- 
ever, that we can see. The whole season's growth is 
sacrificed, with the exception of what is laid up, in 
the shape of vital power, in the roots. With that ex- 
ception, we are no better off, or very little so, at the 



PRUNING. 81 

end of the first year, than at its beginning. Cannot 
we save something here, and during every subsequent 
year, till the hedge is grown. Let us see. 

" The object of cutting the hedge is to stop its 
growth upward, and force it to throw out lateral 
shoots, till it is thickened at the bottom, so that nothing 
can pass through it. Why can it not be stopped at 
once, as soon as its growth is fairly commenced. In 
the first Summer, the shoots have run up like a parcel 
of fish-poles, to eight feet in height. They are now 
to be stopped, by cutting them back to within Hve or 
six inches of the earth. Why could not this cutting 
have been done when the plants had only grown, say 
eight inches high I Then we should have had to cut 
away and lose but two inches or so, and when the 
growth had proceeded, say four inches more, two 
inches still could be removed. All that is wanted to 
stop the upward growth of a twig is, to cut off the 
terminal bud. Being stopped in this direction, it 
throws out side-shoots, and thus thickens as it is 
wanted. 

" As soon as they have grown to the height of four 
or five inches, or sufficiently to enable us to strike 
most of the upward shoots with a cutting instrument, 
cut them back to within two or three inches of the 
starting-point; when they have grown again to a 
height like the first, cut them back again, leaving 
each time, from one to three inches of the new wood. 
The hedge would have to be cut several times in the 
course of the season. 

" It may be thought that this would increase the 
expense of the hedge, by increasing the number of 

4* 



82 HEDGING. 

cuttings. It certainly would make more work during 
the first years of the hedge, but less afterward ; and 
enough would be saved, in the matter of time, to pay 
for the extra trouble, because the plant would lose 
nothing of its growth, as by these severe cuttings, it 
now does. The plants, too, would thicken immedi- 
ately, and be much less liable to be killed by the 
"Winter, than if suffered to run upward into sappy, ill- 
ripened shoots." 

I would, myself, much prefer to commence with 
a wild, and utterly neglected hedge, of three or four 
years, strongly rooted, from which a good fence may 
almost be made the first Summer after decapitation, 
than to incur the risk of weakening the plants, by a 
too early application of the shears ; the seven feet fish- 
poles, cut off at the ground, the second Spring after 
planting, are not a waste, they have left proportion- 
ately strong roots behind them, that will soon supply 
the place above ground, denuded by the clipping off 
of the shoots. 

E. Miller also advises, if the plants grow thrifty, 
that they be cut the first year, about the 10th of July. 
But the danger is incurred of depriving the roots of 
the young plant, not yet established in its new quar- 
ters, of the necessary amount of breathing and evapo- 
rating surface of leaves. Great risk will be run of 
injuring the strength of the plant, by commencing 
the decapitation too soon. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Hedge-making continued— Second Year — Replanting — Culture — 
Trimming— Third Year— Culture— Mulching— Finishing up and 
Seeding — Implements — Shape of the Hedge. 

The topic undertaken in the last chapter being one 
of the greatest importance, embracing practice and 
involving principles that mnst be well understood, 
and efficiently executed, it has been deemed best to 
divide the subject, which is here continued. 

Replanting. — Entering upon the second year, we 
find that some of the plants have failed, during the 
previous Summer, or have been thrown out by the 
frost of the Winter, or they may have been injured by 
some other cause. The hedge should be carefully 
examined, so soon as the ground is workable. With 
a spade, and a basket or sack of plants of good size, 
and with good roots, the hedger must pass along the 
line, and replace, by careful planting, all that are dead, 
or delicate, cutting off the tops of the replants as they 
are set. The importance of doing this work well, 
cannot be too strongly impressed ; for the new plants 
will have an unequal struggle with their fellows, 
already established, and if not successful now, the 
difficulty will be still greater another year. Indeed, 
the replanting can always be best done the first Sum- 
mer, as suggested in the previous chapter. 

The culture of the hedge, during this season, should 



84 



HEDGING. 



Fig. 2.* 



be as thoroughly kept up as last year — the object 
being to encourage the growth of the plants, and to 
destroy weeds, the ground must be frequently stirred 
by the plow or cultivator, followed by the hoe when 
necessary. The July dressing may again be followed 
by the drill-barrow with the turnip-seed. 

Trimming constitutes a most important labor in 
hedging, and its principles should be 
well understood by those who con- 
template the construction of any 
live-fence. The importance of allow- 
ing the plants to grow freely, and 
without trimming, the first season, 
has been already argued in the pre- 
vious chapter, and in many cases a 
second year of growth may be al- 
lowed. 

In the Spring, the whole of the 
wood is to be removed, by cutting 
off at the ground, with the scythe or 
mowing-machine ; after this, in the 
early Spring, the ground on either 
side of the hedge is to be plowed ; 
the furrows should be thrown from the row of stubble, 
and the space between the plants is to be cleared out 
perfectly, so as not to leave a spire of grass, or other 
intruder. Proper culture must also be continued, so 
as to allow nothing but the hedge to occupy the 
ground. In the month of June, or so soon as the 




* Fig. 2 represents the yearling hedge-plant, which has extended its roots down- 
ward ; the line at & indicates the point at which it is to be eut off near the ground 
in the second Spring. 



PRUNING. 



85 



multitude of shoots that will have made their appear- 
ance have become sufficiently woody to bear the 



Fig. 3. 




knife, they are to be cut off with unrelenting hand, at 
four inches from the ground, which will reduce the 
hedge to a low level, although the horizontal branches 
may spread over one or two feet, or more, in width. 
A vigorous, and very thick growth soon follows, 
which may generally be allowed to grow until "Winter, 

* Fig. 3 represents different stages in the growth of a hedge the second Summer, 
as it appears in a transverse section. The line c indicates the point where the 
hedge is to be cut off in June of tho second year in the hedge-row. 



86 HEDGING. 

unless the shoots be very strong, when they may bear 
another clipping, or shearing, in Angust or September : 
no rise should be made this year, however, of more 
than two inches at a time ; so that the next "Winter 
pruning shall not be more than four or six inches 
above the ground. This may appear to be a slow 
progress toward making a fence, to protect our crops 
from intrusion, but we should recollect that the labor 
we have undertaken is one that is to stand for a life- 
time, and it is all important to have laid a broad 
foundation, even if it require two years to produce a 
young fence of six inches in height, but at the same 
time, its breadth will be two feet or more. 

No disturbance of the lateral shoots should be 
allowed, unless occasionally a straggler may require 
to be shortened ; these branches must be left to sustain 
the plant, which is thus severely pruned, and besides 
this, the lateral growth will be wanted, to give 
breadth to the future hedge ; and unless the bottom 
is provided at the first, it can never afterward be sup- 
plied. If these directions have been well followed, 
you will have a good, thick, and broad foundation, at 
the end of the season, which you can pass only with 
a long stride, and into which you could hardly be 
tempted to place your foot. In the Winter, or early 
Spring, the tender and frost-bitten ends, of late growth, 
may be removed, near to the late Summer pruning of 
the previous season. 

Shaw's advice is : " That after one season's growth 
in the row, the plants should be mowed within two 
or three inches of the ground, with a common scythe. 
This should be done in February or March. About 



TRIMMING. 87 

the first of June they should be again clipped within 
two inches of the last cutting ; and again, about the 
first or middle of July, within six inches of the second 
clipping. After this, one clipping annually will be 
sufficient to keep the hedge at a proper height." 

A question arises as to the best time to do the first 
trimming, some advising Winter, say February, others 
early Spring ; Mr. Overman thinks the plants should 
be cut off at two inches from the ground in the Spring, 
when the plowed ridge which was thrown up as a 
protection to the roots is removed. He says, the 
proper time to do this is when the buds begin to start. 
He also differs as to some particulars advised respect- 
ing the Summer trimming. After directing that the 
weeds and grass be kept down by the plow and hoe, 
or by mulching three feet on each side ; about the last 
of June, he mows off the tops, six inches above the 
Spring trimming. The growth being very tender, care 
is required to have the cutting even, and of uniform 
height. For the rest of the season, there is little to do 
except to clip off the rank shoots or leaders that oc- 
casionally start up above the rest. 

Miller is a terrible trimmer of the hedge, his direc- 
tions are as follows : "If your plants grow thrifty, 
crop them about the 10th of July the first year. The 
next Spring cut very close, quite early. After the 
Spring, crop as often as the fresh shoot attains eighteen 
inches height, tolerably close to the last cutting. Con- 
tinue to cut the second year as late as the middle of 
August or first of September, generally three times 
the second year, besides the Spring cutting. The 
third year, proceed much the same as the second year, 



88 HEDGING. 

cropping from four to six inches higher each time. 
The line should be kept entirely clear from grass and 
weeds at least for three years, after which it will 
defend itself. While the upright shoots require fre- 
quent cutting, especially after the first year's growth, 
the lateral or horizontal shoots should not be cut, until 
the hedge is at least three years old. They are natur- 
ally weaker than the upright shoots. Let them grow 
until they attain considerable size before they are cut. 
I have noticed many hedges in the country materially 
injured, and some almost ruined, by cutting the side- 
shoots too soon." 

The judicious advice of W. ISTeff corresponds with 
my own notions as to trimming ; he begins in the 
second Spring, by cutting off every thing within one 
inch of the ground ; in the middle of June he cuts off 
all the tops again, to within four inches of the former 
cutting ; the next Spring, he cuts within five inches 
of the last cut, and in June to within six inches, and 
so on, cutting each Spring and Summer, increasing 
an inch each time, till the hedge is high enough to 
please him. By this means he expects to thicken the 
hedge all the way up, and having divided the strength 
of the stalks by increasing their number, he finds 
less labor in future pruning, as there are no large 
stems. By thus trimming off the tops only, the side 
branches become stronger; these can afterward be 
trimmed and thickened to any point desired. 

Jas. McGrew, whose experience in this business 
requires us to take counsel from him, makes the first 
pruning, in the Spring of the second year, in a pe- 
culiar manner. He uses shears with which he cuts 



THIED YEAR CULTURE TRIMMING. 89 

off the whole plant at or near the collar, cutting to 
the yellow bark of the root, by which he insures 
branches very low, and he finds no injury to the plant 
from this severe treatment, for the decapitated root 
is immediately covered by a callus, from which 
vigorous shoots spring up. 

Trimming the hedge is a matter of the utmost im- 
portance, and more failures have resulted from ignor- 
ance and neglect in this than in any or all other parts 
of the business. The establishment of certain prin- 
ciples of action, and their faithful execution, are 
necessary to success. It is a fact, which all must have 
observed, that soon as a shrub or tree begins to spread 
out its upper branches, the lower limbs cease to grow 
— this is owing to the combined influence of the ten- 
dency of the sap to flow more freely to the highest 
buds, at the expense of the lower ; and of the shade, 
and want of air, produced by the expansion of the 
upper branches. This is all right and proper in the 
production of trees, but a hedge is very different from 
a forest, or a row of nursery trees, which are grown 
for their stems, and for sale — while the hedge is culti- 
vated for its impenetrable branches, and to keep for 
one's self, even though it be the envy of the whole 
country. An entirely different system of tactics must 
be adopted to produce this effect ; for its neglect gives 
us a row of trees closely furnished with branches at 
the top, but naked at the bottom, where we wish to 
oppose a resisting medium to the long nose of our 
neighbor's grunter ; in fact, such a product is a hedge 
upside down — a section of it ; instead of giving us a 
triangle with a broad base upon the ground, equaling 



90 



HEDGING. 



or exceeding its height, it will represent a tall narrow 
triangle, resting upon its apex or point. This is 
almost inevitably the result with all the plans for 
plashing and wattling that have ever been invented, 
and will probably ever be so, while the laws of vege- 
table physiology remain unchanged. 

Third Year — Culture — Trimming. — The hedge- 
row this season will require a very similar treatment 

Fig. 4.* 




as to culture and trimming, except that the tillage 
will be much diminished by the width and thickness 

* Fig. 4 shows the appearance of a well-grown p^ant in the Spring of the third 
year ; and the line d is the place for the cnt to be made in the Spring trimming 
with the scythe. * 



THIRD SUMMER. 91 

of the hedge itself, which should be so thick as to 
smother all other vegetation; nothing but Madura 
should be allowed to remain, however, in the line of 
the hedge, and the occasional use of the plow or cul- 
tivator will suffice to keep down the weeds, and to 
encourage the growth of the plants. 

The Summer pruning should again be performed 
in June ; but now it will not be necessary to clip so 
closely as during the last season : the shoots may be 
left four inches, or even six inches above the previous 
decapitation. Now, also, it is necessary to observe an 
important rule in hedging — a rule founded in sound 
philosophy ; for there must be philosophy in hedging, 
or a failure will probably ensue without it : yet so 
simple is the rule, that every tyro, who has ever held 
a pruning-knife, or used his eyes among plants, must 
see and admit its necessity. I refer to the proper 
shape of the hedge, which is now to be particularly 
impressed upon it. A hedge should be so trimmed 
that every leaf and every twig should have the benefit 
of all the sunshine, air, and rain, or dew, that is pos- 
sible for it to receive ; this result is easily obtained by 
directing the cut, at this, and all subsequent prunings 
in such a manner as to leave a sloping wall on each 
side of the hedge-row, so that an end view shall pre- 
sent the appearance of a broad low pyramid ; never 
allow the sides to be vertical or perpendicular, much 
less, flaring outwardly as they ascend, and with a 
broad flat surface on the top — which is the inevitable 
result of perpendicular hedge-walls. This is a very 
common form for a hedge, I admit ; but, nevertheless, 
a very unsuitable one, and not justified by its frequent 



92 HEDGING. 

occurrence : on the contrary, the more condemnable 
is it, because this very error is so disastrous in its 
consequences as to have deterred many persons from 
hedging, when they beheld a high wall of bushes, 
surrounding and shading a field, with a perfect thicket 
of branches and thorns, from four to six feet above 
the ground, but beneath this, the naked and meager 
stems, that appeared thin and ghostly : these are 
scarcely hidden in midsummer by the scanty foliage 
upon the starving twigs, which were fast dying out, 
and leaving open gaps, to be filled with obtrusive and 
unsightly dead stakes, which the unwise hedger had 
been obliged to thrust in, to prevent the intrusion of 
the swine and other invaders. Such a result is, I am 
sorry to confess, by far too common with many of the 
hedges that may be seen all over the country, and 
such a result is inevitable, where the simple axiom I 
have repeated has not been the guiding principle of 
the hedger, even where the plants have been lavishly 
crowded at the planting. 

During the third summer, then, the clipping must 
be continued, with as much severity as heretofore, 
but the requisite number of shoots having been pre- 
viously secured from below, the consecutive cuts do 
not require to be so close together — six inches will do 
very well — and thus, after the June clipping, we shall 
have a double slope, or extended pyramidal hedge, 
with a base of three or four feet, and a height of about 
one foot, the two sides meeting at the apex, immedi- 
ately over the line of the original row of plants. In 
a couple of weeks, when the new growth has again 
started, you will be delighted with the result ; the 




Tig. 5 shows the pyramidal cutting that is to be done in June of the third year 
s indicated by the lines e/and e g, above the lines c and d. 



94: HEDGING. 

effect will be heightened by the strong central shoots, 
and the brilliant foliage cannot fail to produce a de- 
lightful impression. By the middle of August, or 
perhaps earlier, the cutting must be again repeated, 
with another rise of six inches ; sometimes three clip- 
pings may be practiced with advantage, in the third 
Summer. Great care must be bestowed upon the 
slope of the sides, which will gradually become more 
precipitous, but which must never be allowed to 
assume the perpendicular form. 

If the soil has been good, and properly prepared, 
and the hedge kept under the proposed regimen, at 
the end of the third Summer it will have become a 
fence against all but the most unruly animals, whether 
they be rabbits, boys, or bullocks ; for, although either 
of the latter classes of marauders can look over so low 
an obstacle, a sort of natural instinct induces the de- 
sire, before undertaking such a feat, to see where they 
are to land, after performing a desperate leap; in 
pressing forward for this information, they become too 
intimately acquainted with the thorns of the Maclura, 
and will almost invariably withdraw in disgust from 
the threatened intrusion upon the inclosure. 

It is not, however, advised to turn out the hedge 
so early as this ; in some soils the result will have 
been obtained, but in others it will be best to wait 
another season. 

Mulching, even in this season, is recommended by 
some hedgers, and when it has been previously ap- 
plied, it may be continued ; but the plow should be 
used in July of this year, throwing to the hedge about 
three good furrows from either side, which will aid in 



IMPLEMENTS. 95 

filling up any openings near the bottom. This should 
be followed by the harrow, or by the rake or hoe, to 
dress the surface. 

Seeding and Finishing. — After the hedge has been 
thus laid by — as a corn-grower would call the process 
of culture, just described — it has been recommended 
to seed down with grass, the margin of mellow ground 
sloping from the hedge on either side. "White clover 
has been recommended, on account of its thick, close 
sward, which will prevent washing, smother, weeds, 
and curtail the growth of the hedge somewhat, with- 
out interfering with its health. , Some would prefer 
blue-grass, but it matters little what be used to pro- 
duce the effects named, and to give a suitable finish 
to the hedge. 

Implements. — Something should be said of the pro- 
per tools to perform all this trimming. I have already 
alluded to the application of the brush-scythe, and the 
mowing-machine, to the seedling plants, and to the 
year-old hedge-row; the same implements may be 
called into requisition, with great propriety, especially 
the horse-power one, at the June cutting of the second 
Summer, and at the August cutting of the same year, 
if such be found necessary ; but, after this period, a 
horizontal cut is not advisable, and the mowers, as 
now arranged, cannot be properly adjusted for this 
work. I have great hopes, however, that hedging 
will soon require and receive aid from the intelligent 
machinists who are now creating an important era 
in the history of agriculture ; and that an adjusting 
hedge-clipper, upon the principle of the harvesting- 
machines, will be provided by the agricultural manu- 



96 



HEDGING. 



Fig. 6, 



facturers, so arranged as to give the required slope to 
the cut ; horse-power will then come to the aid of the 
hedger finely. 

In the meantime, the sloping cut is best made with 
a long sharp knife, that is moderately curved, and set 
into a light handle, about four feet long, the blade 
being bent a little to one side from the axis of the 
handle, and well secured to it. The idea of this im- 
plement was taken from what I first had recourse to, 
after aliandoning all the patent 
shears, and useless bill-hooks, 
that were furnished in the shops. 
This was no less than a common 
old grass scythe, which was bent 
fifteen degrees from a right line, 
at about thirty inches from the 
point ; for a handle, the remain- 
der, or heel end of the scythe 
was wrapped with cloth, and a 
capital tool was provided, with 
which a man would soon learn 
to cut off the shoots with rapid- 
ity, and leave a very even sur- 
face behind him. As the cutter 
advances, he should have the 
hedge at his left hand, and car- 
rying his slashing-knife before 
him, edge up, and with his left 
hand advanced, by a succes- 
sion of upward strokes, he will remove the shoots 
with very little effort ; the necessary inclination of the 
blade to the handle, it will now be apparent, must be 



u 



SLASHING-KNIVES. 



IMPLEMENTS. 97 

to the right, when the instrument is in use. It should 
not weigh more than two pounds, and must be kept 
very sharp. After the second Summer, the trimmer 
must pass along both sides of the hedge, to complete 
his work. 

"Wm. Neff considers the pruning a comparatively 
small job, using for the purpose a strong knife, about 
two feet long, or a common grass-hook. He also sug- 
gests that some labor may be avoided, by cutting in 
the Fall, before the wood has hardened, which, how- 
ever, I consider of doubtful expediency. 

My practical friend, Overman, considers the best 
and simplest implement for hedge-shearing is made 
by attaching a curved shank to a strong scythe, so as 
to apply a wooden handle, as above recommended. 
He does the trimming by an upward running stroke, 
doing one side at a time. By keeping the tool sharp, 
the work may be done speedily and easily. He says 
an expert hand will trim a mile a day on each side, 
if done at the proper season. 

The objection to the machine for trimming by horse- 
power is, that it provides for an upright and a hori- 
zontal cut, which reduces the hedge to a very impro- 
per shape. It is elsewhere urged upon all hedgers to 
observe the pyramidal form, and never to attempt the 
perpendicular sides with a flat top. A model for a 
machine, obnoxious to the same objection, was ex- 
hibited recently in Cincinnati. 

Dibble. — Jas. McGrew uses an instrument of iron, 
twelve inches long, pointed, and with a socket three 
and a half inches diameter, into which a wooden han- 
dle is inserted ; this should have a cross-pin near i* 

5 



98 HEDGING. 

socket to receive the pressure of the foot in making the 
holes. Others use a common garden dibble, of good 
size — if sheathed with tin, such an instrument will 
work better, as it may be kept bright and clean. 

Trowel. — This tool, of peculiar construction, de- 
scribed in the previous chapter, is recommended by 
C. !R. Overman : I very much prefer the spade. All im- 
plements should be kept bright, clean, and sharp, to 
do the work well, and with satisfaction to the work- 
man. 

Bill-Hooles and Shears are still used ; the former is 
a clumsy article, too short for the slashing cut, recom- 
mended to be made upward, though very suitable for 
the plashing process, where that is to be performed. 
The hedge-shears are not of sufficient strength, or re- 
quire too much labor for most arms, when applied to 
the strong shoots of Maclura, if they have become 
woody : the power is applied disadvantageously in this 
instrument — except for dressing fancy and ornamen- 
tal hedges, where small spray only is to be cut, I 
should not advise its use : preferring the strong scythe 
and the slasher, with a wooden handle, set at an angle 
with the edge of the blade. 

Morse-power Machines, so far as seen or heard from, 
are not yet according to my notion of what is wanted 
for this purpose ; but such a one as shall trim a slope, 
and adjustable, will some day be made. 

Shape of the Hedge. — Enough has already been 
said, perhaps, to show that the usual form of an 
upright wall is entirely unsuited for a hedge. The true 
form, as already suggested, in the directions for trim- 
ming, is that of a pyramid, the two sides of the hedge 



SHAPE OF THE HEDGE. 99 

being slopes that meet at the apex, in a line immedi- 
ately over the row of plants: this is not only the 
line of beauty for a hedge, but it is also the line of 
healthfulness for the plants ; since, by this plan, every 
portion of the hedge, every leaf, and every bud, is 
placed in the best possible position for receiving the 
full influence of the air, the sunshine, and the rain. 
The perpendicular wall may be very much admired, 
and certainly affords a very fine opportunity for the 
gardener to exhibit his skill in mechanics, emulating 
the mason or the carpenter in his faculty of perpen- 
dicularity. But, with all his skill, he will soon find it 
an impossible task to preserve this uprightness : the 
lower twigs, being cheated of their due share of God's 
blessed rain and sunshine, will soon suffer from the 
slow, but sure effects, of natural pruning — that effect- 
ed by suffocation and starvation : the upper branches, 
on the contrary, more highly favored, will spread 
laterally, in spite of the shears, so that the difficulty 
goes on increasing from year to year. 

It may be well here to recapitulate the successive 
prunings, and the effect they are to have upon the 
shape of the hedge. The first, practiced upon the 
well-established plants, the first or second year after 
setting out, is done early in the season ; and, being 
equivalent to a Winter pruning, will be followed by a 
crop of vigorous upright shoots, more or less numerous, 
according to the strength of the roots. Some of these 
will be thrust out laterally, and will often lie upon the 
ground; so that, when the June trimming is done, cut- 
ting the upright shoots to four inches, the laterals or 
horizontal limbs will be left untouched, and serve to 



100 HEDGING. 

nourish the decapitated plant. This June cutting 
being a Summer pruning, is not followed by so ram- 
pant a growth as that done in the Winter, but several 
branches start out, more or less inclined from the per- 
pendicular. The next Spring pruning, the third year, 
consists merely in shortening the second growth of the 
preceding Summer, and is not necessarily followed by 
so strong a growth as a common severe Winter cutting ; 
though the upright shoots will again need clipping in 
June. In the Spring of this year, the laterals will 
have spread a foot or more on either side, already 
making a base of two or three feet ; if more than this, 
they may be clipped off. The shape of the hedge at 
this time will therefore be a very flat pyramid, with 
a base of two or three feet, and a height of only a few 
inches. 

This pyramidal form changes its proportions with 
the growth of the upright shoots ; and even after the 
June trimming, the hedge should not be more than a 
foot high, unless under very favorable circumstances, 
or where the hedger has failed to cut as low as has 
been directed. After this, another cutting in August 
or September makes our pyramidal hedge quite a 
respectable affair, and all easily produced by making 
a sloping, instead of a horizontal cut, and by trim- 
ming each side of the hedge. The proportions of the 
pyramid thus change with every clipping, until a 
sufficient height is obtained. 

Amid the great prevalence of error in this matter, 
I am rejoiced to find Overman giving such directions 
as these: he acknowledges that he has been forced 
to the conclusion, that the true form of a hedge is 



SHAPE OF THE HEDGE. 101 

that approaching the pyramidal. In support of this 
theory, the following reasons are adduced. : 

" 1st. The general direction of vegetation is well 
known to be upward. 

" 2d. One of the principal requisites of a hedge is 
a thich base — a condition which depends entirely upon 
the number, strength, and vitality of the side branches, 
near the ground. 

" 3d; It is plain, that if the hedge is allowed to 
follow its natural tendency, and force numerous strong 
shoots at the top, the certain result will be a shaded, 
starved, and sickly growth at the bottom ; consequent- 
ly, the lower branches will perish and fall off, and the 
hedge will grow thin : but if, on the other hand, we 
cut the top more and the bottom less, we shall be 
more likely to promote an equilibrium of vigor in all 
the parts. 

" The proposition, then, is to trim with a wide base, 
and bring the top of the hedge to a point. 

" On first reducing the hedge to this shape, make 
the bottom two feet wide, and increase the width and 
height at each trimming, till it is three feet wide at 
the base, and four and a half, or five feet high, when, 
if well thickened, it will be ready to i turn out.' " 

The pyramidal shape has been urgently insisted on, 
as the form most readily attainable, and best adapted 
to the healthy constitution of the hedge-plants of what- 
ever sort. A slight deviation from this, however, is 
allowable, and very pretty ; indeed, it is exceedingly 
apt to occur without the design of the trimmer, it is 
what might be called a Gothic arch, and is caused by 
a fullness on either side of the apex or ridge. 



CHAPTER TIL 

Fourth and Future Years — The Perfect Hedge — The Finality — 
Root-Pruning — The Comparative Cost — Climatic Effects — Cor- 
recting DEFECTIVE HEDGES. 



We now come to consider the result of our three 
years' labor upon the hedge-row. At this time, if 
successful, we shall begin to have something of an 
effect. Indeed, the hedge often produces a fence 
during the third year from planting, though not yet 
completed. It is not best, however, to expect the 
fence too soon — better to exercise our patience, tho- 
roughly perform all the various parts of the work, 
and, of all things, be sure to lay a good broad foun- 
dation to the structure you are erecting. Better to 
lose a year in reaching the result, than to run the risk 
of a failure, which may render all your efforts abor- 
tive, and at last require the whole to be cut down, so 
as to start again from the ground. A deficient, or 
open bottom, can never be prevented in any other 
way. All stakes, and other alterations, may stop the 
gap, and make a temporary result, but they are a dis- 
grace to the hedger, and act injuriously upon the 
living fence. 

Treatment. — The fourth Summer from planting, the 
same general rules must be followed, except that cul- 
ture is not needed, unless the soil is thin, and then 
manure, may be added, to encourage a free and vigor- 



TREATMENT IN FOURTH YEAR. 103 

ous growth. The trimming will become less and less 
onerous, with each succeeding year, if proper regard 
be had to the simple formulae that have been laid 
down — preserve the pyramidal form, and never allow 
the strong leader shoots to run away from the hedge, 
or to run away with it — if this caution be neglected, 
they will assuredly turn the fence upside down ; that 
is, they and their branches, once escaped from their 
master, into the upper air, will soon spread out on 
either side, and intercept the invigorating sunshine, 
the refreshing dews and showers, and the necessary 
air, to the inevitable destruction of your hedge — it 
will be turned upside down — the bottom and essential 
part of it will fail. Fortunately, however, no such 
catastrophe need be apprehended as the overturning 
of the proper, pyramidal hedge dynasty, if only the 
broad foundation has been suitably laid in the begin- 
ning, and upstarts be restrained thereafter. 

It is well known that the most vigorous growth is 
made by young trees, and that such a condition will 
not long continue, if a plant be subjected to crowd- 
ing, clipping, and a cessation of culture. Generally 
speaking, the Madura hedge will cease to make very 
vigorous shoots by the time it becomes a fence ; in this 
it is as superior to the honey-locust, as in its vigor 
and rapid growth it is superior to the thorns or Buck- 
thorn, or, indeed, to any plant that I have had an 
opportunity of observing. Hence, the worst of the 
pruning labor is over by the fourth Summer, when 
the hedge will be completed, and will require only a 
moderate degree of clipping and watchfulness, to pre- 
serve the requisite form during the remainder of its 
existence. 



104 



HEDGING. 




a "S 

«° ,r, M 

A) O O 

.9S 03 
~g3 



KOOT-PRUNING. 105 

Here, then, we have the Finality. The perfect 
hedge, made upon the best plan, directed by correct 
principles. It has been shown that the Madura is the 
best plant, and that, if properly treated, so as to dwarf 
its habit, and to render it compact at the bottom, with 
a broad base, it may, in the shortest time, and with 
the least expense, produce a most satisfactory result. 

Root-Pruning. — It may be found, however, in some 
rich soils, that the dwarfing has not been thoroughly 
effected, but that some shoots or leaders will break 
from the top-line of the fence. These must be watched, 
and pinched off in the Summer, as fast as they appear, 
for physiological reasons already given ; but we have 
another resource at our command, to which allusion 
has not yet been made. Though the Madura is prone 
to send down its tap-roots deeply, rather than to ram- 
ble near the surface, still, as it is a gross feeder, the 
roots will occupy a portion of the ground on either 
side of the hedge-row, but we may check its ten- 
dency to a too rapid growth, when this is observed. 
This may be easily effected, by using a strong, sharp 
coulter, attached to a plow-beam, and drawn as near 
to the sides of the hedge as can be approached by the 
team. This operation should be performed in August, 
and may be repeated, if necessary, every two or three 
years. 

Many writers show that they have never conceived 
any correct notions respecting the true principles in- 
volved in making the American live-fence, with the 
Madura. The old notions of ditches, banks, plashing, 
wattling, looping, et id omne genus, however beneficial 
and necessary they may be elsewhere, and with other 

5* 



106 HEDGING. 

plants, are wholly inappropriate in their application 
to the Madura. It was very natural for beginners to 
follow the printed directions for making thorn hedges, 
and equally so for Europeans to repeat here the les- 
sons and processes to which they had been accustomed 
at home. How refreshing, therefore, to find the 
genius of some of our own men seizing important 
principles, from which they educe sound practice, and 
the crowning, happy results. Of such, among the 
cultivators of the Madura, are Shaw, Turner, McGrew, 
Kennicott, and Overman, the latter of whom thus 
expresses his conceptions of a perfect result : 

" A completed hedge should present the appearance 
of a green wall, when in leaf, from the ground to the 
peak, which may be five feet high. As its principal 
use is to turn all domestic animals, it should be strong 
.enough for that purpose, independent of its armature 
of thorns ; and it should be so dense and thick as to 
render it difficult to see through it, when the leaves 
are on. It subserves another important purpose, in 
breaking the force of the bleak prairie winds in "Win- 
ter, while it effectually prevents the blowing of seeds 
and grasses from one field to another, at all seasons. 
A perfect hedge, well kept, will so blend the beautiful 
with the useful, that it will improve the taste of the 
farmer, and promote the love of order, neatness, and 
method, in all its operations, and, as a consequence, 
it will strengthen his love of home ; hence the import- 
ance of properly caring for it, and keeping it at all 
times in good condition." 

Dr. John A. Kennicott, the well-known and accept- 
able writer on the prairie hedges, speaking on this 
subject, says: 



FINALITY. 107 

" The production of hedging-plants is, in the hands 
of professional horticulturists, where the process of 
planting and rearing the hedges, for the first three 
years, should be also, until our farmers shall have been 
taught the principles of this particular branch of rural 
art and science. * * * * * * 

" We have experimented with the Maclura as an 
ornamental tree and shrub, nearly ever since we 
commenced the nursery business ; but we do not deal 
in hedge-plants at all, and have no expectation of 
doing so hereafter. Our opinion is therefore unbiassed 
by interest, except in the general principle ; and our 
experiments have been made while doubting the har- 
diness of the plant, and our deductions drawn from 
much and varied personal observations and extensive 
personal correspondence. • 

" We believe in the Osage Orange. "We believe that 
hedges of it may be made to stand our Winter, as far 
north as Chicago most certainly, and perhaps a de- 
gree or two further, under favorable circumstances. 
But to proceed. We have not enough rail timber left 
for the present generation, and we Truest have fences. 
What shall we substitute ? Ditches and embankments 
have been extensively tried and generally abandoned. 
We must raise timber for post-and-bar fence or de- 
pend upon the pines and cedars of distant regions. 
We can grow the locust, and, perhaps, other trees, fit 
for our purpose, in twenty years. Along our naviga- 
ble waters, and on the lines of railroads, we can afford 
to build board fences, should the material rise in value 
no faster than the products of our farms. 

" A hedge will cost less and last longer than any 



108 HEDGING. 

fence, except the stone wall. A perfect hedge is the 
most efficient and the most beautiful of all, and sub- 
serves several other purposes, besides protection against 
domestic animals. An Osage Orange hedge will pro- 
tect gardens and orchards against pilfering animals of 
the genus homo — a great moral and jurisprudential 
desideratum. When well grown, it will often arrest 
the unseen malaria of Autumn, and prevent periodical 
fevers. It will break off the cold blasts of Winter, 
and interrupt the heavy sweep of Summer winds ; 
and, in effect, serried squares of the Madura hedge, 
subdividing every quarter-section of our vast and 
naturally defenceless prairies, may be expected to 
modify their climate, and convert their original naked 
bleakness into clothed and sheltered tracts of genial 
mildness and rural beauty. This, in fact, has been 
measurably proved already, and there can be no 
reasonable doubt why hedges, orchards, and timber 
plantations should not meliorate our prairie climate, 
as surely as they alter the cold, bare features which 
Nature stamped upon our prairie land. 

" The experience of the Old "World gave the New 
early lessons in hedging ; and it was natural for us to 
try the plants here which succeeded there. We have 
done so, and all are failures. Our climate is too dry 
and our Summers too hot to suit the best foreign 
plants. Of our native shrubs and trees, so far as we 
have experimented at the North, but three seem to 
answer. These are : the Buckthorn, Washington thorn, 
and Osage Orange. The two former of these will 
make good hedges in our region ; but it is believed 
the latter will make a better, if not the oesU we can 



FINALITY. 109 

ever expect. This has been questioned. Let us in- 
quire into the matter a little further. 

" The Osage Orange is indigenous to a region very 
similar in soil and climate to this for which we write, 
never quite as cold in Winter, but much the same in 
Spring, Summer, and Autumn ; and, what we deem 
of most importance, the transitions are as rapid and 
nearly as broad in Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas, 
where this tree grows, as here in Illinois, where we 
propose to introduce it. 

" The first great principle in hedging is a broad, 
permanent, and impenetrable base. After this, with 
the Madura, the one desideratum is, ripe wood. To 
effect the first, cut down the plants in the Spring ; to 
secure the last, cut back the new growth in Summer, 
and entirely arrest it early enough to cause the ripen- 
ing of all the wood that must stand a Northern "Winter. 
Where the growth is slow, less and later cutting will 
suffice ; where rampant, no one will cut too much. 
Hundreds of these hedges without bottoms should be 
cut down to the ground, or near it, at once, else they 
will never make perfect fences. We have cut down 
plants ^.ye years old, and four or Hye strong stems 
are the result of the one or two sacrificed. 

" We distrust thick planting, and believe that one 
strong root, with three or four stout shoots, is better 
than two weak plants with twice as many feeble 
stems. We are not prepared, however, to give de- 
finite directions as to distance apart. Perhaps eight 
to twelve inches, according to fertility of soil and 
boldness and constancy in cutting down for a base, 
may be near enough to the popular mark ; and it may 



110 HEDGING. 

yet be proved, that on our deepest and richest soils, 
especially if moist withal, a still greater distance, with 
proper cutting, will be most advisable. One fact is 
certain, thick planting or thin, there will never be a 
reliable fence without severe cutting." 

In confirmation of the above, the editor of The Illi- 
nois Farmer says : " Our Agricultural Committee 
have made examinations of Osage Orange hedges in 
this county ; and we found some that had been set 
only three years, and then turned out — making an 
efficient fence against horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, pigs, 
and even chickens. We can now say ' Eureka !' we 
have found it. The Osage Orange, in our country, 
has been proved to make a good and effectual hedge 
fence. I would strongly recommend, however, that 
it be cut back far more severely than usual, in order 
to give it a thick bottom ; for on that its main ex- 
cellence depends. 

" We find also that the prejudices of our farmers 
against this species of fence are fast giving way, and 
the number of those who plant hedges is constantly 
and rapidly increasing. What a beautiful sight will 
the rich prairies of Illinois present when covered with 
farms inclosed by the Osage Orange — and this is soon 
to be done in Central Illinois. 

" I have often had occasion to say, with you, that 
by helping to introduce this plant, Prof. Turner has 
done more good in his day and generation, than if he 
had expended a long life in pounding Greek and Latin 
into the brains of that class who prefer ancient lore 
to living and useful knowledge." 



COST. 



Ill 



Cost.— Trot. J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, HI., has 
a little farm of about one hundred and fifty acres, now 
nearly surrounded and subdivided into twenty-acre lots 
by this hedge, with gardens and lots of smaller dimen- 
sions. He says, he will never allow another rail or 
board of any sort to be brought upon the place for 
fencing : I give his estimates. 

To make all these inclosures in the best and most 
convenient manner will require about four miles of 
hedge or other fence. It would be impossible for him 
to obtain the cheapest sort of rail, or wood-fence, for 
less than $300 per mile. This would, of course, make 
a bill in the outset of $1200. 

"On the other hand, the hedge well set in the 
ground, at the present price of plants, would not cost 
more than $25 per mile. Here then is a clear differ- 
ence of $275 per mile, or say $1000 in the cost of four 
miles when first put upon the ground. The annual 
interest of $1000 is $100, which will hire a good, 
smart young man to tend the hedges, for five months 
in the year. Now if, in all coming time, a man be 
hired to take care of the hedges, and do nothing else 
for five months in the year, it is evident that the rails 
and the hedges would, on that score, just balance in 

actual cost. 

" But on the other hand, it should be considered 
that it will take from three to four years before the 
hedges will be sufficient to turn stock. We will say 
the extreme— four years. Here there is a loss of $400 
interest for which the hedge makes no return, but the 

rails do. 

"To offset this, it should be considered that about 



112 HEDGING. 

$400 worth of the wear of your rails will be gone in 
that time ; for the whole fence will be virtually gone 
in twelve years, or even in less time than that ; while 
your hedge, at twelve years old, thus taken care of, 
will be fifty per cent better than it was at four 
years old. 

"But, instead of its requiring a hand five months in 
the year, it does not require one month, even in the 
most laborious and difficult part of the process, to take 
care of the hedge in the best manner — and after the 
third or fourth year, it does not require the half of 
that, for any man who can swing a slasher can trim 
a half mile of hedge, well enough for any farming 
purpose, in a day ; an expert hand will trim a mile ; 
and whenever suitable horse-power shears are intro- 
duced, the cost will be still further diminished." 

In balancing his estimates of cost between the 
hedge and rail fences, he cannot make it come out 
any other way than that, in the long run, he will be 
at least as well off", in point of cash cost with the 
hedges, and a good man hired five months in the year 
to take care of them, as he would with a wooden fence. 
In point of security and beauty, there is of course no 
comparison. But all who know anything about it 
are aware, that it will not cost even a fifth part of that 
labor, on an average, to take sufficient care of the 
hedges, even with the imperfect tools now in com- 
mon use. 

Here, then, is a clear saving of $80 per annum, and 
at the end of ten, or at most fifteen years, there will 
accrue another saving of at least the whole cost of 
the rail fence, which will be all decayed and gone, 



COST. 113 

while the hedge will be better than ever before. Here, 
then, is another saving of $1200 more, or about $100 
per annum. 

On this place of one hundred and fifty acres, requir- 
ing four miles of fence to put it in perfect order, he 
calculates that he is saving at least $200 per annum, 
in all coming time, by using hedges rather than rails 
— entirely aside from the additional comfort, security, 
and beauty of the hedge. 

As to security, all his fowls, consisting of some 
hundreds of hens, turkeys, ducks, guinea fowls, pea- 
cocks, &c, have been inclosed for two seasons past 
in a half-acre lot, with a seven-foot panel-fence on one 
side, and a hedge on the other. They sometimes get 
over the fence, but never have they passed over the 
hedge. 

On this farm there are some seventy-five or more 
hogs and pigs of all sorts, which run beside a hedge 
which separates the hog-yard from the orchard and 
cornfields — and though the young pigs often get 
through the rail-fence, on the opposite side of the lot, 
they have not been known to pass through this eighty 
rods of hedge. 

Others, who followed the directions, have as good 
hedges, and some of them say they are better. 

The neglected hedges to be seen all over the country, 
the Professor observes : " are not all a dead loss ; for 
the roots meantime grow strong and well ; and these 
hedge-rows of three or four years old may be cut 
down close to the ground in April, and after that, 
trimmed once in two or three weeks, and thus be 
brought into a good hedge in a single season, when 



114 HEDGING. 



the roots are thrifty and vigorous, and the soil well 
cultivated. This has been done repeatedly, where 
errors in the first management had been committed." 

I agree entirely with Professor Turner, and Jas. 
McGrew, in their condemnation of the advice which 
has sometimes been given recommending other and 
erroneous plans for hedging with the Madura ; and 
concur in the proposition, that this plant needs every- 
where a great deal of severe dwarfing, by pruning, 
before it will make a good and manageable hedge ; 
and probably much more of it on the fertile prairies 
than anywhere else, or on poorer soils. On some lands 
it needs at least twice as much pruning as on others; 
and as a general rule, the richer the land the more 
frequent and severe must be the use of the slasher. 
Hence it is utterly futile to think of publishing direc- 
tions which will apply to all parts of the country alike, 
without regard to differences of soil and climate. 

A writer from Pekin, 111., comments upon the state- 
ments of Professor Turner ; he claims that it requires 
a fence to protect the hedge for four years — an item 
overlooked in the above calculation; this with its 
losses and expense of hauling should be charged to 
the hedge, and amounts to a considerable item ; then, 
he claims, very correctly, that the hedge will require 
at least an acre to the mile, for itself, to the exclusion 
of other crops. 

He thus makes the hedge cost, for the four miles, 
$1397, while he sets the fence at $1200. He admits 
that it might make a difference if the fence were 
decayed and gone at the end of twelve years, but 
claims a greater duration for the rail-fence — this is 






COST. 115 

based upon the condition of his own white-oak rails, 
that have been standing thirty-one years, were never 
reset, and have never cost an additional rail, nor a 
dollar of expense ! He also has a post-and-rail-fence, 
that has stood for twenty-seven years, which has never 
been repaired, nor caused any expense, and which 
does not contain a broken rail, nor a decayed post — 
the former are white-oak, and the latter are post-oak 
— he thinks it will last a good fence, without repair, 
for ten years more. 

This is changing the aspect of the question, and 
threatens to annihilate the practical claims of the 
hedge — those of economy— for the beauty part is 
yielded ; but, before deciding, let us inquire whether 
this is not an extraordinary case of durability of 
fence-rails. 

This is an extraordinary duration for a fence whether 
of rails or posts and rails, and surpasses the experience 
of most farmers. 

E. Miller, who appears to be a professional hedger, 
says : That a fence can be grown on good ground at 
fifty cents per rod, and warranted ; which is usually 
safer and cheaper to the farmer than to dabble with 
it when they have no experience, and but little time 
that they can devote to it, thereby often losing both 
their time and plants. 

Henry Shaw thinks, it will not cost more than 25 
to 50 cents per rod, to make the best hedge in the 
whole world for all farming purposes. For one kind 
it will take 1 000 plants, and from that to 2500 for every 
80 rods of fence. And had I the time, I would agree 
to fence the whole Mississippi valley for 25 cents per 



116 HEDGING. 



rod of one kind, and 50 cents per rod of the other 
kind of hedge, all complete, and all cost included — 
and to perfect the whole in three, or at most four 
years from the time the plants were set in the hedge. 
I find by experience that a mile of fence can be set 
much easier and quicker than I had supposed. My 
Englishman with a boy to put in the plants, set fifty 
rods per day after the plants were prepared, which 
the nurseryman ought always to do before he sells. 

Correcting Defects. — So many hundreds of miles of 
hedges have been planted and then neglected, or 
badly treated, in consequence of the ignorance of the 
planters, and often because of the erroneous instruc- 
tions that have been given by the plant- venders, and 
also by those who have been looked upon as teachers 
in this art, that it seems necessary to point out the 
best means of correcting these very common failures. 

Wherever the plants have made a tolerably good 
stand, and have not absolutely died from their neglect 
and bad treatment, it will be a very simple matter to 
construct a good fence upon their roots, in two 
seasons ; and here will be a very pretty opportunity 
for displaying a thorough application of the plans 
here proposed, but with some modifications. The 
same principles of vegetable physiology must be 
observed in the trimming ; but their application must 
be vigorous and judicious. 

Some, unwilling to wait, and preferring to continue 
some sort of a fence, instead of cutting off entirely, 
prefer to pursue the old plan of renewal by planting ; 
one of these, already quoted on other points, upon 
which we more nearly coincide, recommends that 



1 



DEFECTS. 117 

" old hedge-rows, now apparently worthless through 
neglect of trimming, may be formed into good fences 
by the system of plashing recommended for thorn- 
hedges, namely, cutting the main stems half off at the 
surface, and bending them down so as to interlock, 
with the adjoining plants. This plashing is only 
recommended when the plants have already suffered 
from want of trimming, by growing too tall, and 
leaving the spaces near the ground too large. It is 
by far the best plan to thicken the hedge by clipping, 
if commenced in season ; and even in some cases 
where not commenced so early as it should have 
been, it may be best to cut it down and commence 
anew." 

"When referring to this method of renewing a bad 
hedge, E. Miller says : " If lopping becomes necessary 
to make the fence close at the ground, it ought always 
to be done by cutting the upright shoots sufficiently 
near the surface to let the tops lie horizontal without 
any withing under each other. This should be done 
early in the Spring. The wound given the plant in 
cutting will heal very rapidly, and the lopped branch 
will not in growing tend to a perpendicular position 
as when withed down, but will remain horizontal; 
the branches will lie easy without chafing each other 
so as to retard their growth, as is the case when they 
are plaited under. The slashed branch will throw out 
more and better shoots, and there is no danger of their 
dying out as in the other mode of lopping. The 
branches may be cut considerably more than half off 
without injuring them." 

With such ragged and uneven hedges, C. E. Over- 



118 HEDGING. 






man advises to "lose no more time, but cut them 
down, in early Spring, nearly level with the ground, 
except a sufficient number at one end to fill all the 
vacancies in the remainder : these may be cut off at 
three feet high. Remove all the stunted plants. 
Take up the replants with good roots, and use none 
out the best and most vigorous. Hoot out all the 
grass, and set the replants with great care. Clip, as 
before directed, but once oftener, say middle of April, 
June, and July of each year. The replants are not to 
be clipped for two years ; but the growth each side 
must be checked to give them a chance. A hedge 
that has been planted too wide, and suffered to run up 
tall and thin, may be remedied by plashing. This 
operation consists in cutting the plants two-thirds off, 
near the ground, laying them down at an angle of 
thirty degrees, and interweaving them around stakes, 
set three feet apart in the row for that purpose ; or if 
the stems are thick enough, the largest of them may 
be left for stakes. Thin places in a cropped hedge may 
be strengthened by bringing strong shoots into them, 
and confining them during the growing season. If 
the ever-intruding prairie rooter could be honored 
with private apartments, many a ragged specimen, 
now only a forlorn hope, would still answer the end 
honestly expected of it." 

I consider plashing a barbarous process, and one 
that should never be practiced, unless under a pressing 
necessity. It injures the plants more than cutting 
them off entirely, which may be done with impunity 
in the Winter season. To expect a healthy growth 
from the mutilated stocks that are also turned from 



PLASHING. 119 

their erect position, and generally twisted and withed 
between stakes in plashing, is unreasonable. The 
very presence of the dead wood of the stakes is inju- 
rious. That hedgers should complain of failures of 
plashed hedges is not surprising ; but that the fence 
should bear such treatment at all is the marvel. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Objectors — Answered — False Methods — European Plans Unfit 

for Us. 

In view of the fact, which is unfortunately too 
obvious, that there have been more failures than suc- 
cesses in the attempts to produce hedges, it is but 
natural that there should be many, even of our most 
enlightened agriculturists, who object to all proposi- 
tions for hedging, under the impression that any 
efforts will prove nugatory. Some of these shall 
have their objections considered in this chapter. 

Among those who condemn hedges, we find many 
who use the argument against all fences for farm 
purposes, on the score of their great expense. One 
of these, J. F. Williard, of Wisconsin, has presented 
the matter so forcibly, that some extracts from his 
essay in the State Agricultural Report will be here 
given : 

Our present customs and laws concerning fencing 
against cattle form a most burdensome, unjust, and 
oppressive system of taxation, to which this or any 
other country ever peaceably submitted. A similar 
tax for any other purpose would cause a rebellion ; 
and the only reason which can be assigned for the 
apathy existing upon the subject is, that people have 
been born under it, and have grown up with the 
burden upon them, which has so accustomed them to 



OBJECTORS ANSWERED. 121 

it that it has become a part and parcel of themselves. 
* * * At a moderate estimate, the annual expense 
of fencing in the United States is upwards of one 
hundred and fifty millions of dollars. This sum 
includes only the estimate at seven per cent per 
annum on the first cost, with the necessary repairs 
and use of ground occupied by them. In the single 
State of New York, more than ten millions of dollars 
are expended annually to support their fences. * * * 
The amount expended in Wisconsin is estimated at 
more than the original amount paid for all the inclosed 
land in the State ; and the fences have cost more than 
the gross proceeds of all the surplus agricultural 
products. 

The worst feature in the system, and that which 
should stamp it with unmeasured condemnation, is its 
injustice, inequality, and oppression. * * * * 
There are other evils connected with our fencing 
system, which, of themselves, should be deemed 
sufficient reasons for abolishing it, were the advan- 
tages claimed for it two-fold greater than they are. 
One-half of our troubles, as farmers, originates in some 
way in connection with our fences, either directly or 
indirectly. * * * The cost of land wasted by 
being occupied by fences is of little consequence, 
compared with the inconvenience resulting from the 
play-grounds of noxious weeds and bushes afforded by 
the fence-corners, besides being a harbor for rabbits 
and other vermin. They are also reservoirs for snow 
in Winter, and rain in Summer, and are ever distilling 
upon the adjacent lands their humid exhalations. 

In Massachusetts, there are laws requiring the 



122 HEDGING. 

owners of animals to restrain them to their own 
premises. When the Legislature passed the law, many 
considered it an experiment of doubtful utility, and it 
was "believed by many that the people would never 
sustain it. Time has settled the question, and the 
enactment has been triumphantly sustained by the 
people, who rejoice in the improvement, and recom- 
mend it to others. * * * * Large tracts of 
land on the Connecticut River, varying in wddth from 
two to eight miles, were subject to annual freshets, 
which rendered permanent fences impossible. Those 
lands were too valuable to lie idle, and hence a 
general law was enacted." 

These, however, are arguments against fencing in 
general, startling as they are, and do not apply to 
hedges alone. Though objectionable on these and 
other accounts, we have assumed, on a previous page, 
that fences of some kind were a necessary evil, to 
which the people have determined to submit. 

Among the objectors to hedges in the State of Ohio, 
we find some very prominent agriculturists — men 
who have held high positions in the State Agricultural 
Society, but who plainly show in their writings, as 
well as in their speeches, as also possibly upon their 
grounds, that they are not really prepared to condemn 
hedges, but that themselves, rather than the plants to 
which they refer, are to blame for the want of 
success. 

There is another class of objectors who are very 
common in the world, and well known; generally 
much disliked, and seldom answered; not because 
their arguments are unanswerable, but because it is 



OBJECTOES ANSWERED. 123 

not worth the powder necessary to produce an explo- 
sion of their statements, and because the ( shaft of 
ridicule, though it may produce a smarting wound, is 
really devoid of point, and falls harmless, if not op- 
posed — I refer to the scoffers — numerous as they are. 
I shall only present a single specimen, and one of the 
least objectionable, which is selected, because the 
writer presents a plan of making live fences that are 
not to be hedges. He writes to the Prairie Farmer : 

" About the time of the general introduction of the 
Osage, I wrote an article for the Ohio Cultivator, 
doubting its success, and advising farmers not to go 
into it largely. Many, howevever, were, and they 
still seem to be, confident of its success, and patriot- 
ically and zealously engaged in the seed and plant 
business, the consequences of which is, in Illinois as 
in Ohio, long rows of straggling, prickly bushes are 
very frequently to be seen, intended for hedges. All 
I have seen are about as sightly, but much less fruitful, 
than the similar rows of blackberries, thorns, and crabs 
we often have springing up in Ohio. As a fence they 
are about equal. Both are much better calculated to 
tear a man's pants than to turn swine, or even cattle. 

" The last efforts I have seen at an Osage hedge are 
by James Mathews, Esq., Coshocton, and the next by 
Mr. Bateham, Editor of Cultivator, Columbus, Ohio. 
These, when I saw them, looked neat and promised 
to be hedges. But the trouble is, will they stay put f 
The Osage is a tree. Left to itself, where I have seen 
it, it does not limb out so low down as the oak. Is it 
reasonable that the oak may be clipped into a hedge? 
Could the elephant be compressed into a goat ? Dame 



124 HEDGING. 

Nature is stubborn. She yields much to wise and 
gentle solicitations ; but to absolute force-work, never. 
" Still the Osage is not a large tree, seldom exceed- 
ing sixty feet in height, or the diameter of our large, 
full-grown apple-trees. It may make a hedge ; and 
if so, how can it best be done ? If the farmer is 
determined to have an Osage hedge; if he cannot 
wait a few years until the doctors, and seed and plant 
sellers have shown him a good hedge, that has turned 
all stock for at least five years, then how shall he pro- 
ceed. Of course, all I can do is to give my opinion 
— for good hedge I have seen none ; and I have 
travelled some, and looked at all I could readily see. 
To turn hogs, I will give no plan, because I have seen 
enough to feel sure the general farmer will never make 
Osage hedges to turn swine. The amateur, at thrice 
the cost of a post-and-board-fence, may make a hedge 
that in favorable seasons, for a few years together, 
may turn swine. This I have not seen, but I guess it 
may be done. To turn cattle, horses, and perhaps 
sheep, I will point out what seems to me most likely 
to answer. Select the plants, set together those of 
even size. Till up the second year all vacancies with 
plants of the same age, and better size than those in 
the hedge-row. Be sure to do this. Then annually, 
in June, cut off the strongest plants, so as to keep the 
growth of all equal — simply to keep all equal, and 
not to make them bush out. If some plants will grow 
faster than others, take a sharp spade and root-prune 
— that is, cut off a few of the roots of each over-thrifty 
plant, so it shall not rob its neighbor, and cause it to 
pine from starvation. Of course, in this way the body 



OBJECTIONS. 125 

of the trees and not the bush forms the fence ; and it 
becomes important — how far shall they be apart % To 
hope to turn sheep, eight inches would be far enough ; 
but I believe it would be better not to attempt this, 
and set the trees one foot. If set one foot apart, tree 
as the Osage is, with regular root and top pruning 
the strongest, all might be kept growing, and a fence 
made that would defy cattle. This I think probable. 
But admitting the fact, other plants, shrubs and not 
trees, would be much more easily kept in order. Of 
these, the Buckthorn seems to offer many good quali- 
ties. The smaller growing native thorns promise 
about equally well. Nor is it really necessary that 
the plant have thorns. On this plan the body, not 
the limbs, make the fence. Of course, a smooth plant 
could be more easily trimmed and handled, and the 
body would make an equally good fence." 

The Horticulturist objects to the Maclura. "This 
plant," it says, " has some very good qualities for the 
purpose, but it requires great attention — more, it has 
often been found, than the generality of busy farmers 
can afford to give to it ; if neglected, it runs wild, 
loses its lower branches, which at the best must be 
interlaced after the first cuttings, or they will admit 
the smaller animals. Another disadvantage is, that 
it is a greedy feeder, extends its roots far and wide, and 
exhausts the crop of its proper food to some distance 
in the field ; the roots are also of an extraordinary 
size, frequently as large and thick as the wood above 
ground. It is, however, hardy, and if it loses the 
tips of the young shoots in a severe Winter, it soon 
fills up with proper cutting. This plant is seldom 



126 HEDGING. 

liable to the complaint of sending up suckers. Where 
there is a determination to have it as a hedge, and to 
give it the proper yearly attention, it may do very 
well; but it is open to some objections, and it is late 
in coming forward in the Spring, and early in shedding 
its leaves. Our own opinion is, that in a vast pro- 
portion of cases the Osage Orange, without great 
attention, will prove a disappointment : we express 
this with regret, for it has been extensively introduced. 
The experience of our friends at the West may be 
different." 

The first objection is equally applicable to all other 
hedge-plants, but should rather be laid upon the 
shoulders of the hedger. The interlacings, as a 
remedy, would, by a good cultivator, be considered 
of doubtful propriety, to say the least, except in a 
very limited extent. That it is a greedy feeder, will 
not be denied ; indeed, it is on this very account that 
it is so admirably adapted to make a quick result, 
but when the plants have been dwarfed by suitable 
pruning, that is by the time the hedge is made, this 
character disappears, and such plants are probably 
very moderate feeders — we see corn and grain crops 
thriving close to the hedges. The roots do not extend 
far and wide in any great degree, but are remarkable 
for their tendency to go down deeply into the soil. 
This is proved by the absence of suckers, which is 
admitted by the objector. 

False Methods. — Nothing has contributed more 
than these wrong teachings and wrong practices to 
bring the whole subject of hedging into disrepute 
with the people. The most honest men, and the most 



ERRORS. 



127 



zealous, have been impressed with an idea, origin- 
ally correct, upon which they have built up their 
theories and founded their plans, which, in the warmth 
of their young enthusiasm, they press upon the public, 
without waiting for the correcting proof of time to 
test the value of their inventions. Others, copying 
the plans that may be suitable in foreign countries 
with different climates, and perhaps intended for dif- 
ferent objects, apply them here, and without suffi- 
ciently proving their value, they use their endeavors 
to persuade their neighbors and friends to do the 
same things. The people, being good-natured souls, 
willingly follow the kind advice, and are thus too 
often led into difficulty. 

Fig. 8. 




Figure 8 represents the plan of training so as to form an open net-work or 
trellis, by inclining the plants in opposite directions. The spray-twigs are generally 
increased above and diminished below, forming the too common shape indicated in 
figure 10. 

One of the most ardent advocates of hedging pur- 
sues his early predilections, and recommends the use 
of white thorns, which succeed well in England and 
Europe : he plants and waits, and finally he is disap- 



128 



HEDGING. 



pointed. Another seeks for a substitute among our 
own native species, more sturdy in their growth, and 
to the manor born ; to these he applies modes of 
planting and trimming that are wholly unsuited to 
them, and his efforts are not crowned by the antici- 
pated success. Another, an admirer of formality, sets 
his plants, of whatever sort, in such a way as to 
pursue the wicker style, so as to force the plants into 
a sort of basket-work, that shall make a fence, whether 
it ever puts on a leaf and grows a twig or not, adopting 
the plan pursued with the beech and hornbeam screen- 
hedges in Europe, which are intended to be slight 
structures, and which are frequently in-arched where 
they cross one another, and thus rendered stronger. 



Fig. 9. 




Figure 9. The looping-plan, recommended by some of the early instructors in 
Maclura-hedging, and extensively practiced with unfortunate results. As shown in 
the cut, strong shoots come out near the bend, which soon obtain the mastery ; 
while the lower and horizontal branches are smothered and die, and the upside-down 
form is seen from the end view, as in Figure 10. 

Another, after growing his canes one year, loops 
them together at a foot from the ground, and thus 
makes a low barrier that is very strong, and from the 



EREOES. 129 

top of which the new crop of shoots comes out the 
following season, leaving, however, a bare space below 
the loops which will always remain open, unless, as 
suggested seriously by one, a large board be fastened 
beside the stems to close it up. Another thorough- 
going, economical fellow, will tell you to grow your 
canes two years, and eight or ten feet long — then peg 
them down to the ground so as to have the shoots 
rising thickly from almost every bud, and thus save 
plants. Then, again, we have a very numerous clan 

Fig. 10. 




Figure 10. This is an end view of a badly- trimmed hedge, whether of trellis- work 
or otherwise made ; it is the hedge upside down, the pyramid inverted, with abun- 
dant interlacing branches above and few below to occupy the spaces between the 
plants. 

in those who have tried the plan of utter neglect after 
planting, which is indeed quite too common a mode 
of procedure, and which, necessarily resulting in 
failure, produces more discredit than any others. 

All of these have been shown to be false methods 
of hedging ; and better plans, based upon philosophic 
argument, and supported by common sense and com- 



130 HEDGING. 

mon observations of facts, have been presented in this 
volume as true and safe guides, well tested by expe- 
rience, and proved to be worthy. 

I must be allowed again to repeat the truism — 
make the foundation or base of the wall ^7^, and then 
add the superstructure. You cannot make a hedge 
as the Chinaman does his cabin, roof first ; it won't 
be built that way — plant-nature is against it ; the air, 
light, raiu, and dew, must have access to its parts. 

European Plans. — The various plans pursued by 
hedgers in the Old World, as we find them set forth in 
their manuals and systematic works on agriculture, 
though they may be very well adapted to their soil, 
climate, and circumstances, are wholly unfitted for us 
in this country. Their introduction here, wherever 
it has been attempted, has usually been followed by 
failures, and has thus contributed in no small degree 
to the disfavor with which hedges are regarded by 
many of our farmers. The Patent Office Report, for 
1855, contained a long article on hedging, compiled 
almost wholly from foreign sources. To this, however, 
may be excepted the introduction of some American 
shrubs in the list of plants presented as suitable for 
hedging ; and also, a brief essay of about two pages 
upon the culture of Osage Orange, by that practical 
and sensible hedger, James McGrew, of Dayton, 
Ohio. The expensive plans of ditching and hedging 
conjoined, which are much used in the damp climate 
of England, and very suitable there, are entirely 
unadapted to our fine dry climate, where the thorns, 
at least, are too apt to cast their leaves, even when 
growing in our prairies and bottoms, and would not 



EEEOES. 131 

thrive at all upon a dry bank, as lias already been 
satisfactorily proved upon the sod-bank fences of 
Illinois, where they have suffered from drought and 
from frosts. 

Those who know Mr. D. Jay Browne, of the Patent 
Office, and his works, as well as his indefatigable 
labors for the cause of agriculture in his present posi- 
tion, and the accumulation of cares that devolve upon 
him there, will know how to make every allowance 
for these defects. Our excellent townsman, A. H. 
Ernst, who has received great commendation for his 
hedges, and who has spent a long and useful life in 
our country, the fine dry climate of which he fully 
appreciates, asks, whether in our hot climate it is pos- 
sible to secure, on a level surface, a close and compact 
base for any length of time ? whether the rarified heat 
near the ground will not destroy the lower branches ? 
He reminds us that in Europe many of the hedges are 
grown on raised embankments or ridges, with a ditch 
on one side or both. This admits, he claims, the free 
circulation of the air to the lower branches, by which 
they are kept in a healthy condition. The question 
may be answered affirmatively — and no better proof 
can be needed than is furnished by the beautiful spe- 
cimen trees on his own grounds — perfect pyramids, 
with their wide bases supported by the soil. This is 
the very climate and country where we should have 
low branches : keep the ground shaded by all means. 






CHAPTEE IX. 

The Philosophy of Pruning — Summer and Winter Trimming- 
Application to the Hedge. 

Philosophy of Pruning. — Frequent reference has 
been made in these pages to the principles which 
should guide ns in trimming the hedge ; now, lest in 
the hurry of announcing and discussing practical 
points of procedure these important principles may 
not have been sufficiently elucidated, it is considered 
best in this place to devote a little time to their 
examination. 

It is premised that every nurseryman and every 
gardener, as well as every orchardist and every 
hedger, if not every amateur, should be well ac- 
quainted with these principles, and familiar with the 
facts and natural phenomena from which they are 
deduced ; and yet it is marvellous how great an 
amount of ignorance of these matters prevails in this 
country, as will be rendered apparent by the inspec- 
tion of the orchards, the nursery-stocks, the vine- 
yards, the fruit-gardens, and the hedges everywhere 
about us. With the latter we have now especially to 
do ; but the same laws of vitality exist in one case as 
in the other, simply varied to suit the specific differ- 
ences of the several plants, and modified in their 
results by the objects we desire to attain. 

It is not necessary to go into the details of the 



PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 133 

theories of the circulation of the sap ; neither the 
teachings of Darwin and his followers, nor those 
of Schleiden, shall now be called in question ; but 
let us remember the importance of the function of the 
leaves, whether they be true lungs or mere evapora- 
tive and absorptive surfaces — whether the important 
changes of the sap into the proper juices and tissues 
of the plant be performed in them wholly, or in 
various parts of the vegetable system, we need not 
now inquire: we shall all admit the importance of 
the functions to be performed by the leaves and buds : 
in the former, the sustaining and evaporative — in the 
latter, especially, the generative function also ; so 
that a bud may be considered ■ self-supporting, and is 
able to become an independent individual. 

Of these buds, however, collected as they are in 
groups or communities in every tree, each being an 
individual existence, there are alwavs some that have 
greater powers of reproduction than their fellows — as 
in other societies, some members attract to themselves 
an undue share of the good things of this life, robbing 
their poor neighbors, who are often starved and de- 
prived of their very existence. 

Such is the battle of the buds, and such the results ! 
and every leaf performs its function well or ill in pro- 
portion to the amount of vitality possessed by its 
adnate bud. The master-buds in plants of woody 
fibre are mostly situated at the extremities of the 
upright limbs — indeed, they are generally the very 
terminal buds. Hence, we find the first and strongest 
shoots coming from these buds ; and feebler growths, 
often none at all, from those below, although nearer 



134: HEDGING. 

the fountain of supplies of the watery sap. If in 
pruning and training a vine or tree we desire altitude 
or longitudinal extension, we carefully preserve such 
a bud — if, on the contrary, we wish our plant to 
spread equally on every side, we remove this leader, 
and divide the responsibility among the subordinate 
members of the community of buds. Now, here is 
an application of one of the first and most important 
principles of vegetable physiology. 

If this removal of the terminal bud, instead of 
being done in the dormant season of the year, be 
effected in midsummer, while the plant is in full 
activity, similar results, but more marked and imme- 
diate, will ensue ; the sap being no longer powerfully 
attracted by the law to the strongest, is equally 
divided among the other foci of vitality, which are 
thus more fully developed. Upon this fact depends 
the whole mystery and the whole utility of Summer- 
pruning, which is applied especially to fruit-trees by 
what is called the shortening-in process of pruning, 
for the purpose of accelerating the production of those 
lateral branches and buds which are called the fruit- 
spurs, which would not otherwise so soon receive 
their sufficient share of nourishment. 

Now this principle or fact is equally applicable to 
the hedge-plant, except that our object here in Sum- 
mer-pruning or trimming is not to produce fruit-spurs 
by developing the side-buds, but their parallels, side 
branches or laterals. Now, then, the utility of Sum- 
mer trimming will be apparent, and under some 
circumstances it might be practiced repeatedly during 
the season of growth, as in the case of renewing an 



PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 135 

old hedge which has been cut off at the ground in the 
Winter. But it will not do to push this process too 
far, nor to commence it too soon, as advised by some 
in the first season after planting ; we must remember 
that a certain extension of the roots is necessary to 
enable the plant to reach a sufficient supply of moist- 
ure from the great reservoir — hence the propriety of 
leaving the hedge intact of shears the first season, 
during which its growth should be encouraged by 
every means in our power ; nor is this cutting off of 
the abundant growth of the previous year any such 
waste and sacrifice as some writers consider it. 

Another fact of great importance, and one that 
bears upon the great question of Summer and Winter 
pruning, is, that in the dormant season the plant is 
better prepared to bear absolute decapitation than 
when its vitality is excited through every part of the 
stem and branches in the reproductive efforts of the 
buds. In Winter, this excitation does not exist, but 
an unusual amount of vital force is concentrated in 
the great centre, which has been called the living 
heart of the plant, the crown of the root, which in 
many plants is the sole bud, branch, and stem that 
they possess. If under these circumstances pruning 
is done, whether partial or general, to the limbs or to 
the trunk, even at or near the ground, we shall see a 
very different result. ~No longer is there a commu- 
nity of buds in the latter case, or but a limited number 
in the former, toward which on the return of Spring 
the sap may flow ; the whole vitality of the plant, 
directed into a single channel, forces up a sturdy 
shoot, emulous of restoring the majesty of its house. 



136 HEDGING. 

In a partial decapitation a number of such shoots 
appear, and soon restore the dismantled tree to its 
fair proportions. 

This result is just what we do not want in growing 
a hedge, at least not after the first year, during which 
it is desirable to produce strong shoots for the second 
Summer's pruning to operate upon. It will be recol- 
lected that the Summer pruning for the second and 
third seasons was confined almost exclusively to 
shortening-in of the upright canes, for the very object 
and intent of turning the current of vitality into the 
lateral branches, which were to be left and strength- 
ened as the necessary foundation of the future hedge, 
and which, if not provided for at this period and in 
this very way, would never afterward be able to 
attract the amount of sap necessary to their full sup- 
port, as will presently be made apparent. 

Nature, ever provident of means to effect her ends, 
furnishes a new leader among the buds when the 
limb is taken from its upright position and trained 
horizontally. So well aware of this are our vignerons, 
that they constantly place the vines in such positions 
as to have the vitality equally distributed as may be 
among the buds from which they expect their crop 
of fruit. In the vineyard, however, this is only 
approximately effected, for when the bows or loops 
are tied up to the stakes too early, the bud which 
occupies the highest position among its fellows often 
obtains the mastery, to the great annoyance of the 
vigneron, who is obliged to resort to the practice of 
Summer pruning vigorously, to direct the current of 
sap into the lower branches, which, he desires to grow 



PHILOSOPHY OP PRUNING. 137 

as strong canes for the future crop. In the grape- 
houses the vines are under control, and may be kept 
in a horizontal position until the buds have all burst 
evenly, and then tied up to the rafter. 

Applying this correct principle to the hedge, in the 
various plans suggested, such as wattling, or looping, 
or pegging-down, or inter-looping horizontally upon 
the ground, many writers have fancied that they had 
correct philosophy in their support, and so they have ; 
for any deviation from the perpendicular will tend to 
distribute the vitality among the buds along the whole 
length of the shoots so inclined. The misfortune is, 
that they do not sufficiently carry out the principle 
— they do not produce an equality in the power of the 
different bucls, as the watchful vine-dresser is able to 
do, by having the more perfect control of his canes. 
The hedger only makes an approximation to this 
equalization ; for, when he inclines the canes, as in 
wattling or in looping, the top buds, though no longer 
perpendicularly above the roots, are still the highest 
buds ; or when he pegs them down to the ground, he 
does not succeed in making them parallel to the surface ; 
but, as set forth in a previous chapter, there will 
always be an arching upwards of the canes that are 
thus bent, and from this point will start up shoots 
that are stronger than their fellows, and which will 
sooner or later overpower them and attain the mastery : 
whereas the great desideratum in hedging is, to have 
an even growth. 

A very ingenious gardener in this neighborhood, 
some years ago, thought he had discovered a new 
plan, which he described as follows : " Having 



138 HEDGING. 

planted the Madura four feet apart, they should 
not be meddled with until the Fall of the second 
year; by that time they will have made a strong 
growth of six or seven feet. Then these shoots must 
be laid down and pegged close to the ground, one 
after the other, and so on, laid alternately, forming 
the base two feet wide, which I consider sufficient for 
the beginning, as, after the first and second clipping, 
it will have gained three inches more, when they must 
be kept at that, being wide enough for any hedge of 
Osage Orange. 

"It is well known by every man who has had 
experience in hedging, or any knowledge of the Osage 
Orange, that when laid down and pegged close to the 
ground, it will throw up shoots from nearly all the 
eyes on each shoot so pegged, and will be so strong as 
to make a growth of six feet the -same season, if done 
in the Spring, and a closer and better hedge than if 
the plants had been set only three inches apart, and 
allowed to grow upright. The advantages of peg- 
ging down are, that you will have three rows of shoots, 
forming the bottom of the hedge, instead of one, if 
grown upright ; in the second place, you can make 
five hundred yards with the same number of plants 
that it takes to plant one hundred yards in the way 
now practiced in this vicinity and other places ; be- 
sides, you will, on the lowest calculation, have saved 
five hundred per cent of money and labor in the 
operation ; and, what is better than all, you obtain a 
good, close and lasting hedge — so close, even, as not 
to permit a rat to pass through. The first clipping 
ought to be done in the first week of the month of 



PHILOSOPHY OF PKTTNING. 139 

July following the pegging, at eighteen inches high 
— the next in September, one foot above the first; 
thus forming a hedge two and a half feet high, and 
two feet four inches broad, in one season." 

This is carrying out my own anti-crowding notions, 
in extremis — and from one who had been accustomed 
to see the quick-sets of Great Britain laid-in but a few 
inches apart ; this is truly extending the area. In 
theory, the idea of pegging down horizontally is a 
good one ; but the buds will not break so evenly as 
he anticipates, nor send up so many shoots, nor wil' 
the stiff two-year-old canes of Maclura lie horizontally 
they will spring up. As an evidence of the superi- 
ority of this plan, the writer kindly sent me a portion 
of a plant that had been laid down one year previously : 
it was seven and a half feet long, and had more than 
fifty shoots ; the plant from which it was taken had a 
similar branch in the opposite direction, so that a 
single plant was furnishing hedge-shoots for fifteen 
feet in extent, as he expressed it. But what was the 
true state of the case, as then noted and then published 
in The Western Horticultural Review f This strong 
cane of Maclura, which was "laid horizontally and 
pegged to the ground," was arched upwards, suf- 
ficiently to allow a small animal to pass beneath it. 
In the next place, although it had fifty branches, 
those nearest the top of the arch or bend were the 
strongest, and would so remain, while those beyond 
were irregular, and somewhat feeble, and the disparity 
would become more and more marked, from year to 
year. Maclura is a brave plant ; but we should not 
expect from it impossibilities, nor that it will be 



140 



HEDGING. 



exempt from the laws of Nature — which may not be 
easily nor safely infringed upon. 

The two great objects of pruning are, to remove 
decaying or redundant wood, and to lead the growth 
of the young plant in the direction we desire, so that 
the future tree may acquire the requisite form ; this 
is what orchardists call, forming the head. "With the 
first of these, we need not now occupy ourselves ; but 
the principles that govern us in the latter are just those 
that most deeply concern us in the formation of the 
hedge, and therefore need to be considered in this place. 
"When the orchardist approaches a young tree that is 
badly furnished with branches upon one side, he cuts 

back, closely, a limb on that side, in the Winter-time 

knowing that such a cut, at that season, will generally 
be followed by a vigorous growth of new shoots, that 
start up to replace the loss which the community of 
buds has sustained at that breach. The judicious 
primer, however, does not sleep upon his arms after 
his first exploit : he is not satisfied until he has brought 
all his knowledge of vegetable physiology to bear 
upon the case. He returns to the field at the season 
of growth, and then shortens-in some of the limbs 
above, and upon other sides of the tree, and perhaps 
also pinches off the tips of the new shoots from the 
amputated branch ; by which means, in a single season, 
he may be able to restore the desired symmetry of 
the tree. 

If, on the contrary, the overhanging branches had 
been allowed to remain in possession of the air and 
sunshine, they would have smothered and starved the 
young shoots below them, and the object of the 



PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 141 

Winter-pruning would have been fruitless. Summer- 
pruning is also of the greatest value when applied to 
the higher portions of a tree for the purpose of 
encouraging the development and increased growth 
of the lower branches, that were otherwise in danger 
of being overwhelmed by their more aspiring neigh- 
bors. Here we have the same facts which we observe 
in Nature's forest pruning, where, by the crowding of 
the upper branches to reach the air and sunshine, the 
lower limbs are smothered, die, and fall off. These 
facts are all of them just to the point, and are full of 
instruction for us in the matter of hedges : those who 
attempt that absurdity in hedging, a perpendicular 
wall, with a flat top, may succeed in torturing the 
natural shape of their plants, from the graceful 
pyramid, or the full swelling rounded tree-top, until 
they have forced the poor things to assume the most 
unnatural rectangular and geometric proportions — 
stiff and staring — how unlike the waving lines of 
natural beauty ! But Nature will prevail over mis- 
guided Art — the upper branches will extend more 
rapidly than the poor starvelings below them, and 
soon the perpendicularity is lost, and lost, too, in the 
wrong direction, which causes the more rapid destruc- 
tion of the lower branches ; and the result, as every 
body knows, is the common hedge, thick and bushy 
enough, high up in the air, but bare, naked, and 
open below, near the ground, where we need it as 
a fence, against marauders of the most troublesome 
kinds. 

These are but a few of the applications and prin- 
ciples that are involved in the philosophy of pruning. 



142 HEDGING. 

The beautiful study of phytology is exceedingly 
attractive, and most practically useful ; but, beyond 
the points to which it is especially applicable to our 
subject, I shall not now pursue it. 



CHAPTER X. 

Jurisprudence op Fences — The Laws op Maine — Massachusetts 
— New Hampshire — Vermont — Connecticut — New York — New 
Jersey — Pennsylvania — Delaware — Virginia — Maryland — 
North Carolina — South Carolina — Georgia — Alabama — Florida 
— Mississippi — Louisiana — Missouri — Tennessee — Kentucky — 
Ohio — Indiana — Illinois — Iowa — Wisconsin — Michigan — Texas 
— California — Kemarks — Advice — Proposition — English Usage. 

In approaching the consideration of this subject, 
the adage, ne sutor ultra crepidam, stares me in the 
face. When engaged in the discussion of practice or 
theory, as illustrated in this or almost any other agri- 
cultural topic, the writer might feel comparatively 
at home, and able to present himself before the read- 
ing public ; but he is forced to confess his feeling of 
diffidence when a question arises touching the mys- 
teries of the Law. Therefore, in the preparation of 
this chapter, the kind assistance of a gentleman of 
the green bag has been secured. 

To the Cincinnati Law Library, with its extensive 
shelves of valuable authorities, such as could not have 
been found in private collections, I freely acknowledge 
my extreme indebtedness. The courtesy of its Direc- 
tors has enabled me to gather the material for this 
exposition of the fence-laws of our country. 

After this laborious search, I must confess myself 
somewhat disappointed that I have not found all of 
the points of issue fully elucidated, and provided for, 



144 



HEDGING. 



as I had expected they would have been by the laws 
of some of the States. There are many usages con- 
cerning fences and boundaries that I had supposed 
were of sufficient importance to have led to legisla- 
tion ; and many sources of disagreement exist, that 
must have caused the establishment of some definite 
principles in regard to the position of a fence, near or 
upon a boundary ; but these I have not found. Still 
this subject is replete with interest, and this epitome 
will serve to put the reader in possession of a know- 
ledge of whatever legislation has been had in the 
different parts of the country. It is curious to observe 
how differently the great question, that of the Com- 
mon Law, with regard to inclosures, is viewed in the 
different States, according to the character of their 
agriculture respectively: just as grazing or grain- 
growing prevails, we find the fences are legally con- 
sidered inclosures for the cattle, or barriers against 
them. 

It is proposed in this chapter not to give a legal 
opinion, nor to present all the multifarious legal enact- 
ments in relation to fences ; but to point out, in the 
briefest manner, some of those questions which are 
of the deepest importance to the agriculturist, since 
upon them, and for want of a proper understanding of 
them, many causes of unpleasant feeling arise between 
neighbors— often destroying the peace and harmony 
that should exist between those pursuing similar pur- 
suits, and in juxta-position with one another, and who 
should, therefore, live upon the most agreeable terms. 
Suggestions will also be made, bearing particularly 



JURISPRUDENCE. 145 

upon the construction of partition live-fences, where 
they are to be of mutual benefit to both parties. 

Generally speaking, we shall find that, in the differ- 
ent States, laws have been enacted relating to fences, 
of whatever structure, the expense of their construction 
and maintenance, and providing for damages for tres- 
passes arising from their deficiency. 

The statute in Maine respecting fences is in affirm-, 
ance of the Common Law. Where there is no prescrip- 
tion, agreement, or assignment, whereby the owner of 
land is bound to fence, the occupant is not to fence 
against the adjoining close; but, then, each owner is 
obliged to keep his own cattle on his own land. It is 
a question, whether leaving wild lands unfenced be 
not a license for all cattle to run there. To enable an 
adjoining owner to repair a partition-fence, and charge 
a portion of the expense upon his neighbor, the Fence- 
viewers should have adjudged it insufficient, and have 
served a written notice of the fact to the delinquent, 
requesting him to repair it within six days. 

Where a division-fence is defective, and there has 
been no division of it, or assignment of distinct por- 
tions to each, by the Fence-viewers, by agreement or 
prescription, trespass will not lie by either owner, 
against the owner of cattle lawfully on the other side 
of such fence, when they break through— lawfully 
meaning, by consent of the owner of the land ; nor are 
parties bound to fence against cattle on the highways. 
If, upon the partition-line, there has been a valid 
division, according to law, for the maintenance of a 
partition-fence, the owner of each lot is bound to keep 
his cattle from crossing the line ; and it is trespass, if 

7 



146 HEDGING. 



the cattle of one cross into the land of the other, even 
though the latter have wrongfully removed the fence 
built by the former, they having previously built re- 
spective portions ; provided there has been time suffi- 
cient for the former to replace the fence. 

In Massachusetts, the laws of fences are of a very 
similar nature. Setting forth what shall be con- 
sidered a lawful fence, how partition-fences shall be 
maintained equally by adjoining occupants or owners ; 
that unimproved lands, afterwards inclosed, bounding 
upon a partition-fence previously made by adjoining 
party, one-half shall be paid for by the party bene- 
fited ; that when one party shall lay open his in- 
closure, which he may do after giving six months' 
notice, he shall not take away his share of partition- 
fence, provided the owner or occupant of the next 
inclosure shall pay what is assessed by the Fence- 
viewers. That where lands have been held in sever- 
alty or common, either of the parties may demand a 
separate inclosure, and an assignment by the Fence- 
viewers, after erecting his own portion, if the other 
party refuse or neglect to make his within the time 
appointed by the Viewers; the party making the 
demand may make up the other part, and recover 
double the expense thereof — this is not the case 
where the division has been made by private agree- 
ment. 

In this State they have what are called " General 
Fields," or pieces of land held in common, when the 
proprietors agree to inclose them in that manner: 
The fencing is then apportioned among the proprietors, 
according to the number of acres occupied by each, 



JURISPRUDENCE. 147 

so long as he shall cultivate his portion. A party 
neglecting to repair his portion shall pay double 
value of repairs done by the others. 

There is provision against the running at large of 
cattle. If animals turned into the highway for the 
purpose of grazing break into a field, the owner of 
the cattle cannot plead the insufficiency of the fence 
in excuse of the trespass. 

The laws of New Hampshire are very similar to 
those of neighboring States : and where the owner of 
land sees his neighbor erecting a permanent fence be- 
tween their lands, and makes no objection, it is con- 
sidered evidence of an agreement on his part that the 
fence is erected upon the true line. Here, as gener- 
ally elsewhere, it is the occupant of the ground, rather 
than the owner, who is bound to keep the fences in 
repair. The fence or ditch may be half on each side 
of the line, where the ditch is to be used for a fence 
also. Railroad corporations are required by statute 
to maintain fences on the sides of the road. 

In Yermont, the Common Law prevails that the 
owner of a close is not obliged to fence against the 
cattle of the occupant of an adjoining close. The 
statute imposing the duty on adjoining proprietors to 
erect and maintain fences recognizes this principle ; 
for these fences are made, not to keep the cattle of 
others off the premises, but to keep at home the cattle 
of the occupant. The same principle applies to land 
adjoining highways. 

Connecticut. — Double the value of repairs or fences 
is allowed to the party building them when the other 
has refused or neglected them, it having been made 



148 HEDGING. 

his duty to erect or repair them. In this State, the 
owner of land is obliged to fence it against cattle, and 
if his land is not fenced, he can neither recover 
damages, nor impound for trespass. In Massachu- 
setts and in England, the owner of cattle must restrain 
them, or he will be liable for trespasses they may 
commit. 

In New York, there are legal provisions for the 
division-fences between owners of adjoining lands, 
unless either choose to let his land lie open ; but if 
he afterward inclose it, he shall refund the amount, or 
build anew his proportion of the fence, as shall be 
decided by the officers. Damages .from neglect to 
make or repair such fences, to be appraised by Fence- 
viewers, and may be recovered by the injured party, 
who may make or repair such fence at the expense of 
the party so neglecting, and recover, if the neglect or 
refusal shall have been continued one month after 
written notice has been served. Division-fences may 
be removed by either party wishing to throw his 
lands open, between November and April, if ten days' 
notice have been given to the adjoining occupant, 
that he intends to apply to the Fence- viewers for per- 
mission to remove. If such a fence is removed with- 
out such notice and permission, the party removing it 
shall pay to the party injured all damages which may 
be sustained thereby. When a division-fence is de- 
stroyed by any accident, each party shall make and 
repair his own portion within ten days, after he shall 
have been so required in writing, signed by any person 
interested. If any refuse or neglect to do so, the 
injured party may make or repair, and recover the 
expense. 



JURISPRUDENCE. 149 

If the town have prescribed what shall be a suf- 
ficient fence, those who do not comply with this rule 
shall not be entitled to recover for damages done 
by beasts going at large ; but a fence shall always 
be deemed a sufficient one until the contrary be 
established. 

In New Jersey, the law begins by defining what 
shall be considered a lawful fence : those of posts and 
rails, timber, boards, brick or stone, shall be four feet 
two inches high ; all others shall be four feet six 
inches, close, strong, and sufficient to prevent horses 
and cattle from going through or under them. All 
partition-fences shall be close, strong, and sufficient 
to prevent sheep from going through or under them. 
Ditches and drains, in salt-marshes, shall be five feet 
wide and three feet deep ; in other meadows, if they 
be nine feet wide at the surface, four and a half at 
the bottom, and three feet deep, on a mud or miry 
bottom, they shall be esteemed lawful fences : and all 
brooks, rivers, creeks, ponds, and hedges, may be 
adjudged lawful by those called to view them. 

Where lands join, each party is to maintain his 
proportion of the division-fence, unless one party 
choose to let his lands lie open and vacant. Neglect 
of fence is provided for as in New York. The place 
of the fence is to be fixed by appropriate officers, in 
cases of disagreement. The fence shall be equally 
divided, regard being had to the convenience ; each 
party to take an equal share to make and keep in 
repair. No such partition-fence is to be removed by 
either party without giving twelve months' notice in 
writing to the other party ; if removed otherwise, the 



150 HEDGING. 

party removing the fence shall be liable for all 
damages that may accrue. Parties so situated may 
enter into any written agreement between themselves. 
Other regulations are very similar to those of New 
York. But the owner of land adjoining a highway 
is not bound to erect a fence along such highway. 

Pennsylvania. — In this State, the Township Audi- 
tors are required to act as Fence- viewers. Fences that 
are used as partitions between adjoining owners shall 
be built and maintained at joint expense. The Fence- 
viewers shall decide whether the fence be sufficient, 
and what part of the expense of repairing, if necessary, 
shall be borne by each party. The time for viewing 
fences is limited to the period between the first day 
of April and the first of November. All fields or 
inclosures shall be inclosed with fences at least five 
feet high, of sufficient rails or logs, and close at the 
bottom ; those not having such sufficient fence shall 
be liable for all damage and injury done in driving 
out animals that trespass, except swine — for which an 
Act has been passed, restraining them from running at 
large (unless they be yoked or ringed), within four- 
teen miles of the Delaware River ; all such hogs may 
be killed by the owner of such lands as they may be 
found trespassing upon ; or he may take them up, and 
acquaint a Justice of the Peace of the fact, who shall 
appoint appraisers to value the animal, and make 
return — one half of the value to be paid to the owner 
of the swine, if he apply within one year ; otherwise 
to be paid to the Overseers of the Poor. The party 
injured by trespass, even if his fences were not lawful, 
may still proceed at Common Law. An occupant is 



JURISPRUDENCE. 151 

not bound to join a division-fence ; he may set his 
fence within the boundary, and his neighbor trespasses 
in joining thereto. If the fence be set on the line, the 
neighbor may join ; for when the charge assessed by 
the Fence-viewers is answered, it becomes common 
property, nor can the mutual privileges be taken away 
by the statute of limitations, nor nonuser, for twenty 
years or more. A party who, on the destruction of a 
partition-fence, erects a new one on his own land, 
abandoning the space thus left to the public, is not 
bound to maintain the former fence. Fences not 
lawful, but what are called neighborly, and sufficient 
to prevent cattle, not breachy, it seems trespass will 
lie for an injury by the cattle of either. 

In Delaware, very early, the attention of the Legis- 
lature was directed to the subject of in closures. Fence- 
viewers were established, and their duties defined, while 
yet the country was in a colonial condition. The fences 
were directed to be four and a half feet high, if of posts 
and rails ; and worm-fences, not ridered, were to be five 
feet high. Penalties were provided against persons 
owning unruly cattle, for their neglect to restrain them. 
Division-fences were to be made and maintained 
equally by both parties. In 1770 it was found neces- 
sary to pass a supplement to this law, so as to cover 
other means of inclosure, such as ditches, hedges, and 
walls ; from which we may infer that, in this region 
at least, the subject of hedging very early attracted 
the attention of agriculturists. This law declared 
that any fence or hedge that measured five feet per- 
pendicular height from the bottom of the ditch, and 
within two feet of its bank, should be deemed lawful. 



152 HEDGING. 

A curious provision was enacted in case a stone-wall 
became a partition-fence : the party adjoining, when 
he inclosed his land so as to make the wall a partition- 
fence, was required to pay to the party who erected 
the wall one half of the estimated expense of a post- 
and-rail-fence of the same length ; and annually, the 
estimated sum necessary to maintain such a post-and- 
rail-fence, unless he have preferred to pay one half of 
the cost of the wall. Division-fences and ditches, in 
marshes, shall be made and sustained by both parties. 

The lawful height for fences in Virginia is five feet, 
which shall include the bank and to the bottom of the 
ditch when so situated. Certain rivers are considered 
a sufficient fence. The low grounds on the James 
river, in the counties of Buckingham, Albemarle, and 
' Goochland, need not have division-fences on the 
boundary-lines : such lines shall be considered a law- 
ful fence, except where roads cross the river, or run 
parallel with its bank. 

In Maryland, by an old statute, all fences must be 
five feet high ; and from the first of May until the 
tenth of November, all horses shall be kept within 
good and sufficient inclosures, under penalty, after 
due notice has been given, of having them shot, if 
upon the land of the person shooting them. Or, 
estrays being found within an inclosure, may be taken 
up and worked by the owner of the land, if he show 
the beast to the next magistrate — the beast to be relin- 
quished to the owner when he may prove his property. 

A person, having no land of his own, nor renting a 
plantation, shall not be allowed to keep a brood-mare 
at large. 



JURISPRUDENCE. 153 

In North Carolina, all persons are subject to in- 
dictment for not keeping up good fences. Custom, 
declared by the courts to be a good custom, entitles 
him who erects a division-fence to collect half the 
expense from the adjoining occupant, if he improve 
the adjacent land. The removal of fences is forbid- 
den, if it appear that the ground beyond the fence 
was in preparation for a crop, or used in the course 
of husbandry, though no crop was actually planted or 
growing upon it at the time of such removal. 

In South Carolina, the early settlers, in the days 
of Provincial Government, appear to have ignored the 
Common-Law principle ; and, in 1694, avowed that it 
was necessary and proper to fence cattle out, rather 
than to keep them inclosed — so, to protect the cattle 
from damage, the law requires that all planters who 
plant corn and other provisions, or anything they 
would have secured from damage, shall make, have, 
and keep, a good, strong, sufficient fence, six feet high. 
'No canes or stakes shall be set to the injury of cattle 
that might trespass, under penalty; but damages 
were allowed when cattle break through a sufficient 
fence, and double damages for a second trespass. This 
Act was to be in force for two years only. 

In 1827, an Act was passed, declaring lawful all 
fences closely and strongly built of rails, boards, posts, 
and rails, or of an embankment, capped with rails or 
timber, or live-hedges, five feet in height from the level 
surface of the earth. Every planter is bound to keep 
such fence around his cultivated grounds, except 
where a water-course is declared to be a lawful fence. 

If cattle break through such fence, the proprietor may 

>7# 



154 HEDGING. 

seize them, notify the owner within twenty-four hours, 
and demand fifty cents for every horse or mule, and 
twenty-live cents for every head of cattle, hogs, sheep, 
or goats. On a second trespass, the owner of the stock 
shall be liable for all damages, in addition to the per 
capita fine. If the fence be not lawful, the land- 
owner shall be liable for all injuries inflicted upon the 
animals. 

In Georgia, all fences must be six feet high, when 
staked and ridered, and the rails not more than four 
inches apart for three feet high ; if of paling, the 
spaces between the pales shall not be more than two 
inches, and the fence five feet high ; but if on a ditch 
four feet wide, the measure shall be six feet from the 
bottom of the ditch. If the fence be not lawful, the 
owners of cattle shall not be liable for the damage 
they commit, but shall be liable for injury done to 
the cattle. 

In Alabama, all inclosures must be at least five feet 
high, if of rails, well-staked, and ridered, or otherwise 
sufficiently locked ; for three feet from the ground, 
the rails shall not be more than four inches apart ; if 
of palings, they shall not be more than three inches 
apart ; if with a ditch, four feet wide at the top ; the 
fence must be five feet high from the bottom thereof, 
and three feet from the top of the bank, and so close 
as to prevent the passage of stock. If the fence be 
not lawful, no trespass or damage is allowed, nor in- 
jury to animals permitted; but ^nq times the amount 
of injury may be collected by the owner of the cattle 
injured. 

A person using stakes, pits, or poison, where the 



JURISPRUDENCE. 155 

fence is not lawful, thereby injuring cattle, shall be 
punished by a fine of fifty dollars. The owner of 
stock must pay for damages done by them, if the fence 
be lawful ; and for after-trespasses, double damage, to 
be assessed by three disinterested householders. Par- 
tition-fences, between improved lands, must be erected 
and maintained at the joint expense of the occupants. 
If the parties cannot agree, three disinterested free- 
holders may be appointed by the Justice, who shall 
examine and report. Partition-fences here mean: 
those built on the lines between different persons. 

The Florida lawful fence must be five feet high, 
and well staked and ridered, or locked and braced in 
the corners ; for three feet from the ground, the rails 
must not be more than four inches asunder ; if of pales, 
the same height is required, and the pales only two ' 
inches apart ; or with a ditch, five feet from its bottom, 
and three feet from the top of the bank. If the fence 
be not lawful, the entry of cattle will not be consid- 
ered trespass, and then injury to the cattle shall be 
finable, ten dollars for every offence. 

The Mississippi law makes a lawful fence, such a 
one as is strong and sound, five feet high, well staked 
and ridered, or sufficiently locked, and close enough 
to prevent animals creeping through. The owners 
of cattle trespassing shall make reparation for the 
amount of damage done; and for subsequent tres- 
passes, double damage. The fence shall be examined 
by three honest and respectable freeholders, not re- 
lated to the party injured, nor interested in the tres- 
pass. If the fence be insufficient, the person injuring 
any cattle within his inclosures shall pay double 



156 HEDGING. 

damages. In either case, the party liable for damages 
may pay what is deemed reasonable and just by three 
respectable neighbors chosen to assess the same, and 
this shall bar a suit. In the case of partition-fences, 
each party shall bear an equal share of the expense. 
"Walls, palisades, dykes, hedges, and ditches, are also 
allowed. All walls and palisades to be five feet high. 
All dykes to be three feet from the bottom of the 
ditch, and planted with thorn or quickset. 

Boundary-fences, in Louisiana, are made at the 
expense of the adjacent estates, if they be inclosed ; 
otherwise, the open estate is not bound to fence. All 
fences which separate rural estates are considered as 
boundary inclosures, unless one be open, or there be 
some proof to the contrary. Every ditch between 
two estates shall be supposed to be held in common, 
unless there be proof to the contrary. 

In Missouri, it is declared that all fields and inclos- 
ures shall be inclosed with a fence, sufficiently close, 
composed of posts and rails, posts and palings, posts 
and plank (Yankee hoards), or palisades, rails alone — 
laid up as a worm-fence — or of turf, with ditches on 
each side. All such fences shall be at least four feet 
and a half high ; those of turf shall be at least four 
feet high, and trenches on either side, at least three 
feet wide at top, and three feet deep. A worm-fence 
shall be five feet high to the top of the rider ; or, if 
not ridered, it shall be five feet to the top rail, and 
the corners well locked with strong rails, poles, or 
stakes. The sufficiency of the worm shall be decided 
by persons summoned to view the fence. For any 
trespass through or over such a fence, the owner of 



JURISPRUDENCE. 157 

the stock shall pay the true value of the damages sus- 
tained, for the first offence ; for every trespass there- 
after, double damages ; and for a third offence, from 
any of the animals so breaking in, the party injured 
may kill the beasts without being answerable. Com- 
plaint being made to a Justice, he shall appoint three 
disinterested householders to view the fence. If the 
fence be insufficient, cattle injured shall be paid for 
to double the amount of damage. 

In Tennessee, every planter must make a sufficient 
fence about his cleared land in cultivation, at least 
five feet high in all its parts ; he shall also make the 
fence close enough to prevent hogs passing through, 
for at least three feet from the ground. In cases of 
trespass, complaint is to be made to a Justice, who 
shall summon two discreet and impartial freeholders, 
who with the Justice shall view the sufficiency of the 
fence — the owner of the cattle to make restitution. 
If the fence be insufficient, then no damages shall be 
assessed. If the fence be insufficient, and the land- 
holder shall maim or kill the cattle trespassing upon 
his grounds, he shall make satisfaction to the owner 
of the cattle for the injury done. 

A lawful fence in Kentucky, where the statutes 
of Virginia were adopted, is declared to be every 
strong and sound fence of rails, brick, stone, or plank, 
five feet high, or a ditch three feet deep and three 
feet broad, with a hedge two feet high, or a rail, 
plank, stone or brick wall, two and a half feet high on 
the margin thereof — the hedge or fence being so close 
that cattle cannot creep through them. If cattle enter 
grounds inclosed by such lawful fence, the owner of 



158 HEDGING. 

the cattle shall be liable to the owner or occupant of 
the ground for the damage sustained ; for subsequent 
breach, double damage. If the fence be not lawful 
and the cattle be hurt, their owner may recover dam- 
ages in double amount. Non-residents shall not bring 
cattle to run at large. Neither party shall remove an 
established division-fence, without consent of the 
other, between the first of March and the first of 
December. Two months' notice of change is required. 

Examining the laws of Ohio, we find that live- 
fences have been recognized by the Legislature, and 
that that body have passed an act for their protection 
and encouragement. In this it appears, that when a 
farmer desires to plant a hedge next to a road, unless 
it be a street or alley, he may set his plants on the 
precise line of the road ; and for the preservation of the 
hedge, the protective fence may be placed six feet 
upon the road. This protection may be continued for 
seven years ; and if the hedge have not been com- 
pleted by this time, the Township Trustees may grant 
permission, in writing, for the continuance of this pro- 
tection for any term they may deem necessary. 

We next find an Act to regulate inclosures, and to 
provide against trespassing animals, passed January 
17, 1840, which provides that the expense of making 
a fence that is built upon the partition-line shall be 
borne, in equal proportions, by both parties, so far as 
the fence is a partition betwen improved lands of both. 
The repairs shall be kept up by the respective par- 
ties, whether owners or lessees, in equal shares, so 
long as both parties use the lands so divided. In case 
of a controversy, if the parties cannot agree, either 



JURISPRUDENCE. 159 

may apply to the township trustees to act as arbiters. 
"When damage by the trespassing animals arises from 
the neglect of either party to preserve the fence, the 
party in fault shall pay damages as assessed by three 
judicious and disinterested men, who may be ap- 
pointed by any Justice of the Peace of the township. 
If either party shall think proper to vacate his part 
of such inclosure, or make a lane or passage between 
such inclosures, he shall be at liberty to remove his 
part of the fence after giving six months' notice, in 
writing, to the party owning or occupying the adjoin- 
ing inclosure, or to his agent. 

If any animal shall break into any inclosure, and 
the owner or occupant shall consider himself aggrieved 
thereby, he may apply to the Township Trustees after 
giving one day's notice, in writing, to the owner or 
keeper of the trespassing animals of the fact, and of 
the time of the Trustees' visit. The Trustees shall 
repair to the place and examine the fence where "the 
trespass occurred. If they find the fence of sufficient 
height and strength, they shall assess damages. If 
the Yiewers shall find the fence insufficient, the person 
calling upon them shall pay all costs. * * Each 
railroad company shall be required to fence its roads 
with a good substantial wooden fence, under such 
regulations as the County Commissioners may pre- 
scribe. If any person shall open an inclosure, and 
leave the fence, bars, or gate open, he shall be fined, 
on conviction, not more than one hundred dollars, or 
be imprisoned not exceeding thirty days : the prose- 
cution shall be commenced within one year. The 
fines accruing shall be for the benefit of schools. 



160 HEDGING. 

The lawful fence in Indiana is declared to be : any 
structure, or hedge or ditch, in the nature of a fence, 
used for the purpose of inclosure, which is such as 
good husbandmen generally keep, and such as shall, 
on the testimony of skillful men, appear to be suffi- 
cient. The injured party may recover damage done 
by cattle, if the fence be lawful ; but a person who 
chases a horse out of his field with a large fierce dog 
commits an unlawful act, and is liable for any injury 
to the horse. Animals breaking into inclosures may 
be taken up as estrays, the owner to be notified within 
twenty-four hours. If the fence be not lawful, the 
animal shall be released. 

Partition-fences dividing lands occupied by both 
parties shall be kept up throughout the year, unless 
otherwise agreed. No person inclosing land that has 
heretofore lain open shall join his fence to that of 
another, except by consent. If no consent be given, 
each shall give one-half the width of a lane, or a rea- 
sonable distance for the erection of another fence. In 
case of consent, the owner of the new inclosure shall 
pay for half the value of the fence that has been made 
a partition. If one party cease to use his land, he 
shall not take away the fence, if the other party will 
pay its reasonable value — not to be removed until the 
crop shall have been gathered. 

Illinois having been, in its natural condition, a 
grazing country, where flocks have been herded in the 
open prairies, we find that the Common Law requiring 
the owner of cattle and hogs to keep them on his own 
land has neven been enforced. To this there is an 
exception in certain parts of the State, where grain- 



JURISPRUDENCE. 161 

growing is the leading feature of the agriculture, as 
mentioned in the first chapter. To maintain an action 
for trespass, the owner of the close must have it sur- 
rounded by a good and sufficient fence. There is no 
general law in this State prohibiting cattle from run- 
ning at large in the highway. This, however, is one 
of the few States where the subject of hedging has 
been deemed of sufficient importance to warrant the 
passage of a law protective of live-fences ; it is pre- 
cisely like that of Ohio, enacted for the protection of 
live-fences, except that the protective fence allowed 
upon the road may be continued by order of the 
County Court, instead of by the Township Trustees. 

In Iowa, a fence built upon the public land, even 
by mistake, passes with the freehold to the purchaser 
from the Government ; and if such fence is detached 
from the realty by a wrong-doer, the purchaser's 
right to it is not divested. (Green's J^eps., Vol. IT., 
p. 542.) 

[I have not been able to find the statutes of this 
State, and therefore the report is defective.] 

The law of Wisconsin" declares all fences legal that 
are four and a half feet high, in good repair, made 
of rails, timber, boards, stone, or any combination 
thereof; also, brooks, rivers, ponds, creeks, ditches, 
and hedges, or other things which shall be consid- 
ered equivalent thereto, in the judgment of the 
Fence-viewers. The respective occupants of lands 
inclosed with fences shall keep up partition-fences, 
in equal shares, so long as both parties improve the 
same. Neglect to repair or rebuild any such parti- 
tion-fence, when signified by the Fence- viewers as the 



162 HEDGING. 

duty of defendant, may be supplied by the aggrieved 
party, and when adjudged sufficient by the Fence- 
viewers, the complainant may recover double the 
amount of the repairs. Fence-viewers to assign the 
portions to each occupant when they cannot agree ; 
this must be done in writing, and the time during 
which the repairs shall be made may be stated by 
them. This assignment, recorded in the Town-clerk's 
office, shall be binding upon them and their suc- 
cessors. If one party neglect, and the other build 
the fence, the latter may collect double value. All 
divisions of fences to be recorded in the Town-clerk's 
office. If one party erects more than his share, the 
other party shall pay for so much as is assigned to 
him. Partition-fences to be kept in good repair 
throughout the year, unless by mutual agreement 
otherwise. When water occupies the true boundary, 
and is not a sufficient fence, the Yiewers shall decide 
which side the fence shall be made. Lands that have 
been held in severalty may have the fences assigned 
by Yiewers on the request of one party. When either 
desires to open his close, the other shall have the 
privilege of purchasing the fence at the Yiewers' 
valuation, otherwise he may remove the fence after 
six months' notice. 

Where fences encroach upon highways, the owner 
shall remove them ; but shall not be required to do 
so, except between the first day of November and the 
first of April. Hedges may be cultivated on the 
border of a highway, except in a street or alley—just 
as in the State of Ohio. 

If any person shall cut through, dig up, or injure 



JURISPRUDENCE. 163 

any hedge, or throw down any fence inclosing grain 
or other vegetables, or shall leave open any gate or 
bars, such person may be fined not more than one 
hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than thirty 
days, or both, at discretion of the court. 

In Michigan, all fences four and a half feet high, 
and in good repair, consisting of rails, timber, boards, 
stone walls — or any combination of these — brooks, 
rivers, ponds, creeks, ditches, and hedges, or other 
things which shall be equivalent, in the judgment of 
the Fence- viewers, shall be deemed legal and sufficient. 
The respective occupants shall maintain partition- 
fences in equal shares, so long as both parties continue 
to improve. In case of neglect of either, the other 
applies to the Fence- viewers, who shall examine and 
direct the repair, if necessary ; but if it be neglected, 
the complainant may rebuild and demand double the 
amount adj udged by the Fence- viewers. Fence-view- 
ers may assign shares to each party, the assignment to 
be recorded by the Township Clerk. "Where one has 
erected a fence that becomes a partition-fence by the 
other's improvement, it shall be assigned, and the 
second shall pay the value assessed. All partition- 
fences to be kept up throughout the year, unless 
otherwise agreed between the parties. No person 
shall recover for damages done upon lands by beasts, 
unless in cases where, by the by-laws of the township, 
such beasts are prohibited from running at large, 
except where such lands are inclosed by a fence. This 
does not change the Common Law, nor oblige persons 
to fence their lands ; it only precludes damages. 
In Texas, every gardener, farmer, or planter, shall 



164 HEDGING. 

make a sufficient fence about his cleared land in cul- 
tivation, at least five feet high, and sufficiently close 
to prevent hogs from passing through. There shall 
be no space more than six inches wide, for at least 
three feet high from the ground. In case of trespass, 
the person may complain to the Justice, who shall 
appoint two impartial and disinterested freeholders, 
who, with him, shall view the fence, and estimate the 
damage. If the fence be sufficient, the owner of the 
animal shall make full satisfaction to the injured party. 
Any person having an insufficient fence, who may 
wound trespassing animals, shall make full satisfac- 
tion to the owner thereof. Willful burning of fences, 
in this, as in several other States, is punishable by fine 
and imprisonment. 

A similar law exists in California : the lawful height 
being four and a half feet, if of stone, or five and a 
half feet, if of rails ; or, if on a ditch bank, three feet 
from the bottom of the ditch ; the fence must be two 
feet high ; the fence must be reasonably strong, and 
so close that animals cannot get their heads through 
it. A hedge shall be considered lawful, if five feet 
high and sufficiently close to turn stock. The owner 
of stock to be liable for their trespasses, if the fence 
be sufficient ; on a second trespass, for double the 
damage sustained. All injury done to trespassing 
animals, where the fence is not lawful, shall be paid 
by the owner or occupier of the grounds. 

In view of the want of elucidation of several points, 
relating to boundary fences, I should suggest to my 
readers, that when they proceed to inclose a piece of 
land which has heretofore lain open, the first object 



JURISPRUDENCE. 165 

should be to ascertain the precise line of their domain, 
and to set their fences within that limit entirely ; for, 
by so doing, they need not relinquish any claim to 
their full measure of land, as settled by the surveyor's 
monuments ; nor can they be annoyed by suits for 
trespassing with their fences upon their neighbor's 
property. On the other hand, if at any time the 
owner of the adjacent land desire to improve and cul- 
tivate it, and, of course, to fence it, they have the ad- 
vantage, nor can he compel them to unite with him 
in fencing his land; but they may allow him to join 
fences, making an equitable arrangement by private 
contract, to be still enforced by an assignment of the 
several portions to each party, by the appropriate 
officers, as this, in some States is necessary, in case 
further legal questions may arise. An amicable ar- 
rangement, and perfect understanding as to the assign- 
ment of the different portions, should always be made 
at once between neighbors, to be confirmed officially, 
where necessary. 

Propositions for those interested in partition-hedges. 
— My views have already been expressed as to the ad- 
vantages to be derived by most persons who wish 
hedges, from the employment of professional hedgers, 
where the parties have not a sufficient knowledge of 
the subject, nor appliances for its execution. There 
are plenty of men now in the country who have de- 
voted themselves to this business, and who are entirely 
competent to accomplish the object. One proposition, 
therefore, would be for the neighbors wishing a par- 
tition-hedge, to hire such a professional hedger, at 
their joint expense, who shall plant the hedge exactly 



166 HEDGING. 

upon the dividing line between them. When finished, 
each party shonld trim his own side of the hedge, and 
they may enter into an agreement mutually, to pre- 
serve the fence according to its need, or they may 
divide the line equally between them. During the 
growing of the hedge, each party should keep up the 
protection-fence upon his own side, if that should be 
necessary, as in case the land on either side be pas- 
tured, though in the open prairies, hundreds of miles 
of hedge are grown without any protection ; or, where 
two fences are not needed, one of the parties should 
provide the fence, which may be placed on either side 
of the hedge, according to the use that is to be made 
of the fields adjoining, and to prepare the ground by 
grubbing, hoeing, &c, while the other is to plant and 
tend the hedge for three or four years, or until com- 
pleted; and when the fence is perfect, he shall be 
entitled to the old rails or other materials of the pro- 
tective fence. 

When two neighbors cannot agree to unite in the 
rearing of a hedge on the line dividing them, and one 
of them is desirous of having a live-fence, to avoid all 
difficulty, let him plant the hedge five feet within the 
line, cultivate and trim the hedge at his own expense ; 
after which he may remove so much of the original 
partition-fence dividing them, as had been before 
assigned to him, and then, if the neighbor desired to 
join, he should be expected to pay the value of one 
half the hedge, as in the case of any other partition- 
fences, as provided by the laws, and a consideration 
for the five feet of land also. 

James Todd, an English land-surveyor and valuator, 



JURISPRUDENCE. 167 

has given me the following statements as to the mode 
of arranging the hedges and ditches, when they are made 
on partition-boundaries. The ditch is either on one side 
of the hedge or the other, according to the character 
and shape of the land. Since its object is to drain, as 
well as to fence, it is always placed toward the rising 
ground, or, in other words, the hedge, though planted 
on the bank of the ditch, is on the original lower side 
of it ; if, then, a hedge is to be placed on the line be- 
tween A below and B above him, in point of elevation, 
the ditch is dug upon A's side of the line, the dirt or 
bank erected still further on A's land, and the division- 
hedge is thus wholly on A, ditch and all. On the 
other side of his farm or field, however, the slope 
continuing in the same direction, on the line between 
A and G, another neighbor, the ditch and hedge are 
both upon the land of C, and the ditch is unobstructed 
in its function of draining the land of A, that inclines 
toward it. In another part of A's boundary, however, 
where there is no call for a ditch, as where A and D 
join boundary, the hedge may be set directly upon 
the line between the parties, and is kept in repair by 
both ; whereas, when wholly upon the land of either 
party, the ditch and hedge, though a partition-fence, 
are maintained by the holder of the soil. 

In the absence of the law, this is given as reputed 
usage, at least in a part of that country. On land 
liable to be overflowed, or low flat lands, the centre 
of the ditch is made exactly upon the boundary be- 
tween the parties, and the maintenance of the fence 
is at joint expense. 



APPENDIX. 



The following statements might have been intro- 
duced into the body of the work, had they been ob- 
tained at an earlier period ; but their value and interest, 
and the position of their writers, are such as to entitle 
them to great consideration, and they are, therefore, 
here appended. 

At one of the annual December meetings of the 
State Agricultural Society of Ohio, at which the pre- 
sidents or delegates from all the county societies as- 
semble, and take part in the deliberations of the 
Board of Agriculture, a very interesting discussion 
occurred upon the subject of hedging. 

The diverse and the adverse views expressed were 
remarkable, and I regret that I cannot procure the 
report of the discussion. On the 7th of December, 
1854, however, the following resolution, offered by 
Mr. Corwin, was passed : " Resolved, That we recom- 
mend to the farmers of Ohio, the Osage Orange as a 
most suitable plant for hedging ; superior in all re- 
spects to every other plant which has yet been intro- 
duced into Ohio for economical and enduring fences." 
At the same meeting, the Committee rendered their 
award of a premium to James McGrew, of Dayton, 
for the best specimen hedge in the State ; and the fol- 

8 



170 HEDGING. 

lowing statements were produced by two of the com- 
petitors. 



HEDGING, BY JAMES McGREW, OF DAYTON, OHIO. 

To the President and Members of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture : 

Gentlemen: Having been directed to prepare an 
article upon the subject of Live or Hedge Fences, to 
be embodied in your next Annual Report, I beg leave 
to express a wish that some one more competent than 
myself had been selected to present this important sub- 
ject, in its true bearings, accompanied with directions 
which are of such a character as to secure the general 
introduction and successful cultivation of hedge-fences : 
a subject of such vast moment — one in which millions 
of dollars are involved, and one which will ultimately 
change the appearance of our whole country, should 
receive not only the attention, but the candid investi- 
gation of the ablest agriculturists of our land. 

If it be true, that four-fifths of the people of these 
"United States are engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
then it follows, that whatever affects the agriculturists 
has its consequent influence upon the great mass of 
our people. It has been thought by many, that no 
one subject was of such vital interest to the people of 
this Union as that of railroads, and that that great 
interest more directly affects the interests of the farm- 
ers than any other class of men. Yet we find that 
railroads, with all their importance, do not, in their 
practical operations, have so general and direct an 
effect upon the interest of farmers as this great and 



APPENDIX. 171 

indispensable appendage to our farms, namely, the 
fences that inclose and divide them into fields, orch- 
ards, and pastures. The importance of this subject is 
just beginning to develop itself. In this connection, 
I may mention the fact, that many parts of our State, 
which, but half a century ago, were regarded as a 
wilderness, are now almost destitute of timber suit- 
able for making fences. Our forests are rapidly melt- 
ing away before the accumulating population, who, 
with unsparing hand, are exhausting this resource of 
Nature. All the present stock of good timber, such 
as oak, ash, walnut, poplar, pine, and hickory, will 
very soon be wanted for building and other purposes, 
for which no good substitute has been, or perhaps can 
be found. We cannot, therefore, expect to renew our 
fences with our own material, or material similar to 
that composing our present fences ; consequently, we 
must look to some other source for fencing : and we 
should begin to inquire into the present as well as 
prospective value of material for that purpose. 

Few persons have paused to estimate the value of 
our common fences. A very moderate estimate is, 
three miles of fence to each quarter section of land, 
which is barely sufficient to inclose and put two par- 
tition-fences through it, to say nothing about lanes, 
lots, and a number of fields which every farm must 
necessarily have, but which cannot be had with less 
than five miles to the quarter section, and no farm of 
that size would be considered well fenced without 
that amount. Yet, taking three miles for the estimate 
upon each quarter section (160 acres), we would have 
in Montgomery county, two millions seventy-three 



172 HEDGING. 

thousand and six hundred rods of fence — which is 
worth, upon an average, one dollar per rod ; and they 
could not now be replaced at a less expense than three 
millions of dollars. Thus, it will be seen, that the farm- 
ers of our State have an enormous amount of capital 
invested in fencing, which must be renewed every fif- 
teen to twenty -five years. By examining minutely into 
this matter, it will be seen that the tax, or expense to 
which farmers are subject in keeping up their fences, 
is far heavier than any other item of expense con- 
nected with their pursuit. This subject should, there- 
fore, receive the attention of every farmer. ****** 

We have little waste land in our State — land that 
is of a character unsuited to cultivation, and must 
necessarily remain in a state of nature, periodically 
producing timber and wood. "We cannot, therefore, 
expect a supply from that source, and I have shown 
that the present supply of valuable timber will soon be 
needed for other purposes. The substitution of other 
materials, such as stone and wire, cannot be brought 
into general use. There appears, then, to be but one 
alternative. We must grow our fences out of the 
fertile soil. By so doing, we do not exhaust other 
resources, for which there is abundant need for the 
purposes to which they are properly adapted. This 
is in accordance with the true principles of economy, 
and should be inculcated as a doctrine that ought to 
be considered important in every subject appertaining 
to agriculture. 

If my view of this subject be correct, the question 
arises, which one of the many plants that have been 
tried for hedge purposes is to be used in this great 



APPENDIX. 173 

work. It is useless to go into a repetition of the 
failures of the many hedge-plants that have been tried 
in this country. It is only necessary for me to state, 
that they have all failed in most instances, except the 
Maclura or Osage Orange. Our climate is so differ- 
ent from that of many parts of Europe, where the 
different varieties of thorn have been successful, that 
it is necessary for us to look for some plant that will 
withstand the extreme heat and droughts of our climate, 
that is of vigorous and rapid growth, suited to our go- 
ahead habits, and that is free from the attacks of in- 
sects. Such qualities we cannot expect to find com- 
bined in any one plant, except it be a native of our 
own country. All foreign plants have failed — sim- 
ply because their growth is unsuited to our soil and 
climate. In the moist, damp atmosphere of many 
parts of Europe, the several varieties of thorn succeed 
to admiration. But in this country, their slow growth, 
the shallow tendency of their roots, and their thorns 
not affording sufficient protection, have proved them 
unsuited to our habits of railroad speed, to the severe 
droughts of our climate, and to the intrusive character 
of our people and stock. But in the Osage Orange 
we lind all the qualities that are necessary to insure 
success. Its rapid and vigorous growth proves it ad- 
mirably suited to our progressive habits, its deep roots 
enable it to withstand the severe droughts of our cli- 
mate, and its thorns are of such a protective character 
as to answer every required purpose. It has no equal 
as a hedge-plant, upon American soil. 

Although this great enterprise is yet in its infancy, 
it cannot now be regarded as an experiment. It is 



174: HEDGING. 

now one of the fixed facts of the times, that Osage 
Orange hedges can be grown throughout the land, as 
certainly as that fruit orchards have become general. 
And the same protection and care that insures success 
in the latter case, will as certainly (if properly direct- 
ed), secure success in the former. The Osage Orange 
grows wild in the uncultivated lands of Texas, and is 
found as far North as Red River. As a hedge-plant, 
it is vigorous, healthy, and long-lived ; the natural 
tendency of its growth is to throw out branches from 
the ground : it bears the greatest severity in trimming; 
it has bright, glossy foliage, which, in Summer, gives 
it a rich and beautiful appearance. It grows upon 
all kinds of productive soils, and nourishes in all our 
varied climates, from Texas, its native place, to Bos- 
ton in the northeast, and St. Paul in the northwest. 
I will give the opinions of a few of the many who bear 
similar testimony as to the success they have had with 
the Osage Orange. 

James Gowen, of Pennsylvania, who, it is believed, 
has the oldest Osage Orange hedge in the United 
States, says, he is well satisfied that it can be main- 
tained as a thorough hedge for generations. Prof. 
Turner, of Illinois, declares, that if any one will de- 
scribe a hedge-plant, such as he would have, made to 
order, he will engage to prove that the Osage Orange 
is in all points as good, and in some points better, than 
his imagination could wish. Dr. Warder, » of The 
Horticultural JReview, Cincinnati, asserts, that the 
Osage Orange has justly been styled the best of all 
hedge-plants. The lamented Downing said, we are 
glad that this capital hedge-plant, so easy of culture, 



APPENDIX. 175 

so rapid in growth, so strong in its protective thorns, 
and so handsome in its foliage, is rapidly rising in 
public estimation. M. B. Bateham, of the Ohio Cul- 
tivator, says, he is well satisfied that the Osage Orange 
will prove to the United States what the English 
Hawthorn is to England. A. H. Ernst, of Spring 
Garden, Cincinnati, well known throughout the West 
as a Pomologist, Nurseryman, and Horticulturist, 
speaks of the Osage Orange in this wise : There is no 
plant so easy of cultivation, better, or so well adapted 
for a protective hedge, in our soil and climate, as the 
Osage Orange. It will grow and flourish in all strong, 
rich soils, whether they be alluvial, upland, sandy, 
clay, wet, or dry. It proves capable of enduring the 
greatest extremes of moisture, heat, and drought, and 
the lowest temperature to which our region of the 
West has been subject. There is nothing to my mind 
so beautiful, or so secure a barrier and protection for 
ordinary farm-fencing, as hedging ; and no country 
possesses a better plant for that purpose than we do 
in the Osage Orange. 

Gen. Worthington, your worthy President, a year 
ago entertained serious doubts as to whether hedging 
could be successfully introduced into this country; 
yet he looked upon this subject as one of great im- 
portance. His deep interest and anxiety in reference 
to it, led him to investigate it closely, and his con- 
clusions will show that he has bestowed careful 
thought upon the subject. He said, he had for years 
been convinced that we had more to fear in this mat- 
ter from the severe droughts of our climate than from 
any other cause ; for this reason, that the plants, in 



176 HEDGING. 

order to form an impenetrable hedge, nrast necessarily 
be set close together ; and it is well known that veg- 
etables, plants, and trees, closely crowded, always 
suffer most severely from the extreme heat and 
droughts of our climate. He entertained a doubt as 
to whether we had any plant that would bear crowd- 
ing sufficiently close in the hedge-row, and yet remain 
uninjured by drought. But, after having witnessed 
the healthy and thrifty appearance of an Osage Orange 
hedge, closely planted, and full grown, which had 
withstood the most intense heat and drought that we 
have ever experienced in this country, he expressed 
himself highly gratified with the result ; and stated 
unhesitatingly, that he believed the Osage Orange was 
the hedge-plant of this country, and that in it we 
possess the element of a great and valuable improve- 
ment. The testimony of the gentlemen named is of 
the most unquestionable character, and their united 
testimony for or against any issue of Horticulture or 
Pomology, would settle it at once. 

At the Agricultural Convention, Dr. Warder, 
although himself a successful grower and a firm ad- 
vocate of the Osage Orange, expressed his surprise 
that, notwithstanding the strong opposition that was 
manifested by the aged and honorable members of 
the Board, I should speak so confidently of the success 
of the Osage Orange as a hedge-plant. But when he 
afterward saw my hedge, he said, he understood why 
I had such confidence. It was founded on a practical 
demonstration, about which there could be no mis- 
take. It is not to be supposed that an individual with- 
out any practical knowledge could successfully culti- 



APPENDIX. 177 

vate and properly form a hedge. It is really no small 
matter. It is a work that is to last for generations. 
Those who attempt to grow a hedge should spare 
neither care nor expense in having it right. If well 
done, it is an invaluable improvement upon any farm 
— if not well done it is an entire waste, of time, room, 
and money. The business can be learned only as 
other things are learned, by careful study and practical 
experience. It is not a matter to be intrusted to 
novices, tenants, an d gardeners. They may respectively 
understand their business well ; because they have 
learned it by years of practical experience. But they 
know nothing about this business. Who would think 
of giving a gardener charge of his vineyard, his broom- 
corn, or tobacco crop, unless he had experience? 
Why then trust this thing, which is vastly more im- 
portant, to the care of such hands. Most farmers 
would neglect a hedge if they knew all about its 
culture and management, from this fact : that it 
requires the most care and attention when farm crops 
need most work — and at a time when the farmer's 
physical energies are taxed to the utmost. This being 
the fact in nine cases out of ten, the hedge would be 
neglected year after year, and thus prove a failure ; 
whereas, if the hedge was contracted for, to be grown 
by experienced, practical and responsible men — those 
who have studied and thoroughly understand the 
business, and are engaged in growing hedges — it will 
be properly managed, and its success will be certain. 
Many persons have gone into hedging, and failed, 
because they have been misled. They were told that 
they could have an everlasting fence, and one that 

8* 



178 HEDGING. 

would be perfection itself, at from thirty to forty cents 
per rod. And, further, that they grew them in Illi- 
nois for $100 per mile. But it is all a mistake ; for 
you cannot find a hedge in Illinois, or any where else, 
that is grown by men who contract at such prices. 
If men want good hedges they must expect to pay a 
valuable consideration for them. I treat this point 
thus plainly, because I believe it to be the cause of 
many failures and much disappointment. There are 
men in various parts of our State who object to con- 
tracting for a hedge that will cost from 75 cts. to 
$1 per rod, who think nothing of paying from $1.25 
to $1.50 per rod for a good board-fence which, they 
know, will have to be renewed in from fifteen to 
twenty-five years, at most. If those who are interested 
will investigate this subject, and start upon the true 
principle of doing thoroicghlj what they do in this 
matter, or be willing to reward those who do it for 
them — and see to it that they secure such men as are 
responsible, and will do their work well — then they 
may expect success. 

Enterprises and improvements of a general character 
like this always have opposition to contend with from 
the ignorance and prejudices of honest men. This, 
like every other valuable improvement, must meet 
with the common opposition that is prompted by 
ignorance, prejudice and the fear of being humbugged. 
But with every investigation it will strengthen and 
increase, until its success will be triumphant. I now 
come to the directions for successfully growing an 
Osage Orange-hedge. Great care should be taken in 
the selection of good seed. The quality can generally 



APPENDIX. 179 

be determined by breaking the seed and examining 
the kernel. Fresh seed is preferable on account of 
its greater vitality ; consequently, it vegetates sooner 
and with less trouble. 

Sprouting and Planting the Seed. — Soak the seed 
in warm water from thirty to forty hours, changing 
the water several times, then put it . into shallow 
boxes four or five inches deep. To every bushel of 
seed put one half bushel of sand, and mix thoroughly. 
Keep them in a warm place ; wet as often as twice a 
day, with warm water ; stir as often as three times a 
day, or more frequently. If the seed is obtained in 
time to have it frozen by putting into boxes, mixed 
with sand, it is undoubtedly of advantage. The boxes, 
in all cases, should be such as would allow the water 
to drain off. Some recommend planting the dry seed 
in March. But as a general thing, the first described 
method I think far preferable to any other. In that 
case, the seed should be put to soak about the fifteenth 
or twentieth of April. Seed attended to as above 
described, and kept at a temperature of sixty five or 
seventy degrees, would sprout sufficiently in two days 
to put into the ground. It is necessary, however, to 
have the seed well sprouted before planting, as the 
ordinary moisture of the ground will not soften the 
hull sufficiently to enable the germ to force its way 
out ; and when that is the case the seed will be lost. 

Much care should be taken in the selection of a 
good piece of ground for the nursery or place of 
planting the seed. The ground should be new, fertile, 
and free from the seeds of weeds and grass. It ought 
to be mellow, not subject to bake, and rather inclined 



180 HEDGING. 

to be wet than otherwise. Good prairie, that has been 
broken the year previous, is undoubtedly preferable 
to any other soil. The ground should be deeply 
plowed, harrowed, and rolled, if necessary. When 
the ground has thus been prepared and well pul- 
verized, the most expeditious way of making the drills 
for planting is to use a common wheat-drill, taking 
out one-half of the planters. Have large points, say 
five inches in width, and about the shape of the com- 
mon points, upon the planters that are used in making 
the drills. The drills made in this way will be six- 
teen inches apart, and by putting weights on the drag- 
bars, the drills can be made of sufficient size and depth. 
For planting in a small way, the ground being tho- 
roughly prepared, the drills may be made with a small 
plow or hoe. The seed must then be strewed along 
in the drills by hand, putting one quart to four or 
live square rods, which would amount to from one to 
one and one-fourth bushels per acre. The covering 
can be done with light steel rakes. The seed buried 
to the depth of two or three inches, and covered in 
such a way as to leave a ridge exactly on the row, for 
a two-fold purpose : first, to show where the young 
plants are to come up ; secondly, that in passing along 
with a small steel rake, such as is used in covering 
the seed, the crust which is apt to form after a rain, 
upon any soil, can be removed, thereby destroying 
the first crop of weeds and grass, which would other- 
wise remain among the plants, and be destroyed only 
by a great amount of labor, and in many instances 
this would be done at the sacrifice of a large number 
of plants. Removing this crust also assists the young 



APPENDIX. 181 

plants in getting a start. "When necessary, the spaces 
between the rows must be hoed, after which all the 
weeds and grass in the rows, among the plants, should 
be removed by hand. This process of hoeing the 
spaces and weeding the rows should be repeated as 
often as necessary in order to keep the weeds down, 
and the ground loose and in good condition. If ther 
soil is good, the season favorable, and the proper cul- 
tivation given, they will be sufficiently large for trans 
planting the following Spring. 

The process of taking up the plants is as follows : 
A subsoil plow is used to cut them off. The share of 
the plow should be of steel, quite large, and flat as 
possible. The depth of its running can be regulated 
by a wheel in front, at the end of the beam. With 
this plow the plants can be cut off eight or ten inches 
below the surface of the ground, and most of them 
will remain standing in their places until gathered by 
hand, assorted, tied in bunches of one hundred each, 
and then boxed irp, or they may be boxed without 
tying in bundles. Great care should be taken to pre- 
vent their getting dry and withered. I should have 
mentioned that the most even and best method of 
cutting the tops off is to use a mowing-machine or 
briar-scythe, about three or four inches above the 
ground. This should be done in the Fall as soon as 
the leaves are off, so that the lower buds, which are 
always small, may be developed by the action of the 
sap through the Winter. In boxing them much care 
should be taken to have good boxes, and although 
they should not be air-tight, yet they should be such 
as would prevent the plants from getting dry and 



182 HEDGING. 

wilted. Moderate-sized boxes ar£ best, say, sixteen 
to twenty inches wide, the same depth, and three to 
three and one-half feet long. 

Setting the Hedge. — For this purpose the ground 
should be broken up to the depth of from twelve to 
eighteen inches, according to the quality of the soil, 
and at least ten feet wide. If there be any thin soil 
in the row it should be well manured. It should not 
only be plowed, but subsoiled, harrowed, and thor- 
oughly prepared. The hedge is then to be set in the 
centre, which would leave live feet to be cultivated 
on each side. The law of Ohio allows the moving out 
fences, along the public roads, a sufficient distance to 
give an opportunity for growing a hedge at the proper 
place. When a hedge is to be set along an old fence- 
row, it is much better to have the fence moved the 
year previous, and the ground broken up and culti- 
vated. It would then be in a better condition to re- 
ceive the hedge. After the ground has been fully 
prepared it is necessary to stake off the row and draw 
a line to work by. The holes for inserting the plants, 
to be made with a steel dibble, twelve inches in 
length and two and a half or three inches in diameter 
at the top, with a socket into which to insert a handle, 
with a pin in the handle, at the top of the dibble, to 
bear the foot upon in pressing it into the ground ; the 
holes should be six or eight inches apart ; the plants 
are to be put into the ground about an inch deeper 
than they were in the nursery, the earth is then well 
pressed about the entire length of the root. Putting 
the plants in well, when transplanting, is one of the 
most important matters in having the hedge well 



APPENDIX. 1 83 

started. Too much care can not be taken in this par- 
ticular. Then comes the cultivating, hoeing, plowing, 
&c. The soil on both sides of the hedge needs thor- 
ough cultivation, and the hedge-row should be kept 
clean during the whole of the Summer season. No 
stock should be allowed in the inclosure where the 
hedge is set until after harvest. In justice to the 
hedge, no stock should be admitted until Fall, unless the 
hedge has made a vigorous growth in the early part of 
the season. In such cases, a few cattle after harvest 
will not materially injure it. But if no stock is allowed 
where it is until Fall, the Summer's growth will by 
that time become hard, and it will then protect itself. 
The protection from cattle should be continued for 
three years, at least in the early part of the season. 

Gutting the Sedge down. — The next Spring, which 
is one year from the time the hedge was set, it must 
be cut off at the surface of the ground, below all the 
buds, just above where the root has a yellow appear- 
ance. The root will then swell up and put out a 
number of strong shoots j ust at the top of the ground. 
It then needs to be thoroughly cultivated until about 
the middle of June, when, if the season has been 
favorable and the growth vigorous, it should have 
another cutting within two or three inches of the for- 
mer one ; but if the growth has not been rapid and 
vigorous, the cutting should be deferred until the next 
Spring. The cultivation, however, should be con- 
tinued as late in the season as there is need of it, in 
order to keep the hedge-row clean. By this process 
of cultivating thoroughly and cutting down severely, 
we at once form a strong, close, and firm base, and 



184 h'- 

if this process is rigidly carried out, success is certain. 
It is thought by some that it is necessary to cut down 
more than twice during the Summer; but this is a 
great mistake, for every one who has experience in 
matters of this kind knows, that it is necessary for a 
tree to form a top to a certain extent, in order to obtain 
roots and trunk, and that by keeping it trimmed too 
closely, its growth will be greatly retarded. This 
fact I have had fully demonstrated by my own expe- 
rience, and the view I have advanced is so well corro- 
borated by the best authors who have written upon 
the subject, that it needs no controversy. The follow- 
ing Spring, cut within three or four inches of the for- 
mer cutting, and again, in June, four or five inches 
above that, continuing the cultivation until it is four 
years old, and even after it has attained the size neces- 
sary to answer the purpose of a good fence, the ground 
alongside should be kept in good condition. Like 
every thing else upon the farm, the hedge, barns, 
orchards, and our ordinary fences, need much care 
and expense to keep them in proper trim ; and, as a 
matter of course our hedges will have to be cared for, 
if we wish them to be as they will be, the most valu- 
able improvement upon the farm. 

The fourth Spring, it may be cut six or eight inches 
above the former cutting. The following June, eight 
inches higher ; after which, the latter part of the Sum- 
mer's growth will be sufficient to answer the purpose 
of a good fence. After this, trimming once a year 
will be sufficient, which should be done in the latter 
part of the Summer or Fall, before the wood hardens ; 
or if trimming twice a year is preferred, trim in June 



APPENDIX. 185 

and September. It will be found that much less 
trimming will be required after the hedge is fully 
grown. The reason is very obvious : the manner of 
trimming that I have described will cause each part 
to spread, and throw out a great number of branches ; 
so that, by the time the hedge is four or five feet high, 
the great number of branches to be supplied with 
sap from each root, will cause the former vigorous 
growth to be checked, and it will then grow more 
slowly. The first cutting, which will be one year 
from the time the hedge was set, can be done best 
with a pair of shears, with long handles — they can be 
had at most of our agricultural stores. I recommend 
the shears, because it is difficult to cut the plants off 
sufficiently low with any thing else. The second and 
all succeeding cuttings can be done with a short, 
heavy briar-scythe, hung upon a strong, stiff snath. 
The second, third, fourth, and in some cases the fifth 
cutting, may be simply square off, letting the side or 
lateral branches grow. After the fourth or fifth cut- 
ting, however, it should be cut of an oval shape. The 
best way to do this is to walk along with the hedge 
upon the left hand, and with the scythe making an 
upward stroke, cutting to the centre of the hedge. 
"When you get to the end of the row, turn round to 
the left, and come back upon the other side, cutting 
it in a similar manner ; then by going along with the 
hedge upon the right hand, and making a downward 
cut with the same scythe, the sides can be nicely 
trimmed — at all times letting the lower branches ex- 
tend out beyond the rest, that they may become 
strong, and the base wide. 



186 HEDGING. 

The base should be at least five feet wide at four 
years old. If the side or lateral shoots are trimmed 
as frequently, and with as much severity, as the up- 
right ones, they will soon lose their vigor and strength, 
as the natural tendency of the growth is upward — 
hence the necessity of skill and judgment in properly 
forming a hedge. Great care should be taken to 
secure a close, strong, and firm base. I have en- 
deavored to be particular in describing the proper 
method of forming a good base, as a large portion of 
the hedges that have been set have failed on that 
account. In fact, I may say that four-fifths, if not 
nine-tenths, of all the hedges set have failed on ac- 
count of not having the base properly formed, conse- 
quently they have become a nuisance, thereby bring- 
ing hedging into disrepute. All succeeding trimmings 
can be done in the manner heretofore described — at 
all times keeping the hedge in the shape described. 

I have given you, not theory, but a plain statement 
of my practical operations in growing the hedge (for 
which your Committee awarded me the premium), and 
the knowledge I have gained in growing it and other 
hedges. 

Dayton, Ohio, January 3, 1855. 



STATEMENT BY A. H. ERNST. 



To the Ohio State Board of Agriculture : 

In compliance with the request of the Committee 
on Hedging, I proceed to give you a brief description 
of the Spring Grove Cemetery hedge, with the manner 



APPENDIX. 187 

in which it is formed, and the cultivation of the 
plants, with a few remarks on hedging in general, as 
applicable to our State. 

By a vote of the Directors of Spring Grove Ceme- 
tery, I was charged with the duty of hedging the 
grounds, consisting of something over two hundred 
acres. I had the ground for the seed prepared by 
deep trenching, in a black, sandy loam. Sowed the 
seed in November, in drills, one foot apart, covering 
it not over an inch, and protecting it with a covering 
of leaves from the frosts, during Winter. In the 
Spring, the plants came up very freely ; the leaves 
left on the ground as a mulching caused the plants to 
grow finely. During the Summer, I had the ground 
for the hedge prepared. This I had deeply trenched 
with the spade, four feet wide, raising the border in 
the middle in a rounding form. Being thus prepared, 
I had the plants taken from the seed-bed early in 
November, and commenced transferring them to their 
permanent location. After taking up the plants, I 
had the tap-root reduced to nine or ten inches, and 
cut the top down within two inches of the neck or 
crown of the roots. Thus prepared, we proceeded by 
stretching two lines, eight inches apart, in the middle 
of the border. Then, with a dibble, we made holes 
eight inches apart, in each line, making them directly 
opposite the spaces in the other line ; the plants were 
inserted at once, and pressed tight by the foot of 
the operator. This work can be performed with great 
rapidity by any man of common intelligence and 
activity. When this was completed, the border was 
covered with leaves, to protect the plants against the 



188 



HEDGING. 



freezing of Winter, and the droughts and heat of 
Summer. 

This year each plant threw up several strong shoots, 
which were cut down the next Spring within three 
inches of the ground ; from the eyes of these several 
strong shoots, as well as laterals, were thrown out, 
thus thickening the growth near the ground. These 
were again, for the third time, cut back ; some near 
the ground, to force out laterals ; others, something 
longer, to fill out a little higher ; and one on each 
plant was reserved to form a net-work four feet 
high. 

To form this net- work, it is necessary to drive down 
stakes at eight to ten feet in the line of the hedge. 

Fig. 11. 




On these two slats are fastened, one at the top, the 
other one foot from the ground, to form the net-work 
on. I think the lower slat can be dispensed with. 
The shoots forming the net-work are bent so as to 
impede the rapid flow of the sap to the extremity, 
thereby causing its distribution in the lower buds and 
growth — a point so apt to be overlooked, but abso- 
lutely necessary to the forming a hedge worth the 



APPENDIX. 189 

name: an angle of nearly forty-five degrees is the 
proper one. This forces the dormant buds near the 
ground into growth, and thus forms laterals there, to 
make a tight and compact base. To make this net- 
work complete, the shoots are plaited like a sieve, 
from the bottom up, and are tied at each crossing with 
yellow willow. An expert workman can do about 
two rods per day. This work was performed from 
Fall to Spring, when not too cold. When the hedge 
had been thus formed, it was carefully trimmed 
several times during the Summer, especially to check 
its upward growth, and encourage the lower growth. 
This hedge is trimmed in the hog-back form — that is, a 
straight line from the ground to its intersection at the 
top with the other side, leaving a base three and a half 
feet to five feet high. This it is designed to increase 
in height and thickness of base gradually at each 
trimming, until it has attained its desired capacity. 
With proper care this makes an impervious fence to 
any thing, though it is more costly than is necessary 
for an ordinary protection. The maxim, however, 
will hold good : What is worth doing, is worth doing 
well. 

Spring Grove hedge is now six years old. Three 
sides of it have been exposed, without other protec- 
tion, since midsummer, to all sorts of stock; espe- 
cially on the east line, bounding a public road of 
near a mile long, not an instance has occurred of a 
breach through it. Rabbits show, by their tracks in 
the snow, that they have met with a barrier they can 
not pass — at all events, not until they have by their 
teeth cleared a passage in some less guarded place, 



190 HEDGING. 

where, perhaps, a plant in the first instance had died 
out and was not replaced. 

Owing to a want of sufficient practical experience 
during its progress, this hedge has cost more than a 
similar one could now be produced for on the same 
ground ; and yet its cost bears no comparison to any 
other fence affording suitable protection to the Ceme- 
tery ; and as for beauty, nothing can compare with it. 
Of its durability, of course nothing can be said ; but 
all the presumptions are, that it will live to a great 
age. 

The trimming operation is performed with a com- 
mon Dutch grass sickle, in the hand of a man who 
passes along one side, giving it a quick motion up- 
wards, by which the tender shoots are shortened to a 
proper uniform surface. This is done as often as the 
straggling growth appears, and especially to check 
the growth at the top. If this were neglected, the 
hedge w r ould be worthless in a short time. The lower 
branches always die out, if the upper ones are per- 
mitted to absorb all the fluids ; and this they are sure 
to do, if not checked by frequent trimming. 

Having said this much on the Spring Grove hedge, 
I may be permitted to make a few remarks on hedging 
in general. For more than fifty years, the attention of 
the agricultural community, in various parts of the 
Union, has been directed to the increasing scarcity 
and cost of wood for fencing purposes, and the neces- 
sity of some substitute. Hedging is the substitute to 
which the mind naturally turns. Much has been 
planted during this time. Large amounts of money, 
labor, and time, have been employed ; and yet we 



APPENDIX. 191 

have to regret that all this, with very little exception, 
is wasted; that, except here and there around some 
small inclosure, we have no hedging in the country 
deserving the name of a fence. This is mainly owing 
to two causes, viz. : the nse of plants not at all adapted 
to our soil and climate, and to improper cultivation. 
In these two causes lie the whole secret of failure. 
On the first point it is unnecessary to dwell, as we 
now have a plant which experience has proved to be 
the plant for our climate and soil. It is not saying 
too much to call it the best for this purpose. I of 
course refer to the Osage Orange. Superior as this 
plant is for the purposes of the hedge, it is a waste of 
time and money to attempt its nse, nnless a right 
principle is observed in its culture, and this carried out 
with diligence and patient perseverance. The chief dif- 
ficulties in the way of this are : the want of knowledge — 
a fact many people in these times of progress are not 
willing to admit ; the other is a supposed want of 
time when attention is most important — other farm 
duties requiring all this nntil it is too late : so no 
good reason is seen for so much time wasted, when in 
one season the plants will grow to the required height. 
Mr. McMahon, near fifty years ago, in pressing the 
attention of farmers to this subject, says: " I would 
advise such to hold fast by the post and rail, and not 
to lose time in doing more harm than good." The 
next point is, Where shall the inquirer look for relia- 
ble information to guide him among the teachings of 
the day ? In most practices, we turn to those who 
have had the longest and best experience on the points 
respecting which we seek information and knowledge. 



192 HEDGING. 

It is clear that our practice has proved almost an 
utter failure. Then we shall be not much mistaken 
in looking to those countries for information where 
hedging has been successfully practiced for hundreds 
of years. The plan which I have detailed, on which 
Spring Grove Cemetery hedge is formed, was simply 
following a German practice extensively in use there. 
The other and more common practice there, as in 
England, is that of Plashing. This answers all the 
purposes of the other, at a much less cost, but is not 
so neat. Plashing is a simple process, consisting of 
cutting off half or more of the plants near the ground, 
leaving some at regular distances, cut off at a suitable 
height as stakes ; then the remainder partly cut in, 
near the ground, and laid, or bent over horizontally, 
all one way along the hedge, and there fastened down 
to the stakes, causing a thick intermixed growth at 
the base. This is sometimes followed up with a second 
plashing, the next year, and this makes a fence impe- 
netrable to any animal. Among the most fruitful 
sources of failure is wide planting, and the attempt 
to form a barrier by an upright growth. This will do 
for an inside division, where hogs are not permitted 
to range, but not for a reliable fence on a public high- 
way. When a rabbit once makes a passage, a small 
pig will soon follow, then one larger, until a breach 
is made for a cow. Plaiting or Plashing are the 
only safe modes of protection, and never should be 
dispensed with for an outside protection. Five or six 
inches for the single row is the proper distance ; for 
a double row, six to eight inches. When the plants 
are set wider apart than this, it is next to impossible 



APPENDIX. 193 

to bring the laterals near the ground, so close in con- 
tact as to prevent the passage of rabbits and pigs, and 
in the event of the death of a plant, leaving a gap for 
a cow to pass. 

Old and defective hedges, if the gaps are not too 
large, can be improved and made quite good, by cut- 
ting the plants down to near the ground, and with 
care thus <to form a tight base, or it may be plashed, 
as above explained. A reform must be made in our 
mode of hedging, or an abandonment of its use will 
be the consequence. 

[For my own notions, as to the sentiments contained 
in the last paragraphs, the reader is referred to the 
appropriate chapter.] J. A. "W. 



D. Landketh, the well-known Horticulturist of Phi- 
ladelphia, has kindly sent me the following article 
from the Germantown Telegraph, to which he made 
the communication, being satisfied that the Maclura 
is destined to be an all-important plant in this country, 
and anxious that his father should have the credit 
which attaches to his application of it to hedging pur- 
poses about 1828. 

To the Editor of the Germantown Telegraph : — In 
the report of the meeting of our Agricultural Society, 
it is stated, I expressed the opinion that the Maclura or 
Osage Orange, pruned with the severity recommended 
by Dr. "Warder, of Cincinnati, in his address on that oc- 
casion, would not be long-lived. My opinion, founded 
on the experience of many years, is precisely the re- 
verse ; I believe it to be in a remarkable degree adapted 

9 



194 HEDGING. 

to hedging purposes — perhaps more so than any other 
plant. The doubt I did express, imperfectly heard by 
the reporter, was whether the honey-locust was of a 
similar value, and I do very much doubt its adapta- 
tion to hedges, to which it has been applied ; while, 
on the contrary, the Maclura has every good quality 
to recommend it — hardiness, vigorous growth, endur- 
ance of the shears without disease or morbid growth 
being induced, acrid juice which protects it against 
the attack of insects, pungent spines, and disposition 
to branch when i cut in :' these and other qualities 
indicate it as a plant which, it might almost be said, 
Nature had designed for protecting the labors of the 
husbandman. 

"While on this subject, will you indulge me with 
space for a few incidental remarks, on the original 
application of the Maclura to hedging purposes? 
During the administration of Mr. Jefferson, the West- 
ern Exploring Expedition, known historically as Lewis 
and Clark's, was made, and resulted, among other 
things then considered of vastly more importance, in 
the discovery of this tree, in the Osage country, which, 
from its use by them, the Indians, named how-wood. 
A few seeds reached Philadelphia, and from one of 
those was produced the noble specimen still standing 
in the rear of my father's old homestead, on Federal 
street, Philadelphia. Its pendant branches and deep 
green, glossy foliage, which no insect would approach, 
was for many years the admiration of all who visited 
the nurseries. For some considerable time the only 
mode of its increase was by cuttings of the root, placed 
in pots under glass, and in that way some thousands 



APPENDIX. 195 

were produced, which from their great rarity were 
deemed of sufficient importance to be exported to 
Europe in charge of a special agent, sent out by the 
late D. and C. Landreth, who disposed of them in 
London ; and, they now doubtless, decorate the plea- 
sure-grounds of our aristocratic cousins. 

The parent tree in course of time flowered and 
produced abundance of fruit, which, from the circum- 
stance of the specimen being pistiliferous, was imper- 
fect. At a later period, another tree of similar origin, 
planted at our seed-grounds on Fifth street, produced 
staminiferous flowers, which, as an experiment, were 
cut off with branches attached, carefully wrapped in 
sheets, and conveyed to the female tree, a distance 
of two miles, when, greatly to the delight of all made 
acquainted with the fact, many bushels of ' oranges,' 
each with perfect seed, was the result ! About the 
same time, trees at McMahon's nursery also produced 
seed, and the supply of plants rapidly increased faster 
than the demand for ornamental purposes, to which 
they had hitherto been solely devoted. 

My father, perceiving the promise of the Madura 
as a hedge-plant, used some hundreds to fill open 
spaces in hedges of English hawthorn, which he had 
set out, in accordance with his early tastes, many 
years previously. As he had anticipated, they formed 
an impenetrable mass, and established it in his opinion, 
as the best of all plants for hedges. Many thousands 
were produced with a view to their sale for that pur- 
pose, and attention was called to them in various ways : 
among others, I (then a youth) wrote several articles 
on the subject, which were widely republished, espe- 



196 HEDGING. 

cially in the West, where the means of inclosing 
prairie lands were of primary interest. 

Since then the Madura has been slowly gaining 
in popular favor, and the seeds and plants have be- 
come articles of considerable trade. The former are 
now annually collected in Arkansas and Texas, to the 
extent, it is said, of thousands of bushels ; and from 
reliable statements, it is supposed two hundred thou- 
sand dollars are yearly expended in this country, prin- 
cipally in the West, for the seed alone. The plants 
are also raised in large quantities, and set out and 
trained at a stipulated sum per rod, by parties who 
travel from farm to farm. The attention of Europeans 
is also directed to it, and it is presumed for the same 
purpose, as within a few weeks I have filled an order 
from the " Continent," for a considerable quantity of 
seed. 

Thus, Mr. Editor, from an accidental circumstance 
have important results ensued, and we may, in refer- 
ence to it, apply one of the early lessons. 

"Tall oaks from little acorns grow." 

David Landreth. 

Bloomsdale, March 24. 



LETTER FROM PROFESSOR J. B. TURNER. 

The following letter from one of the first and most 
zealous advocates of the Maclura hedge, and who has 
done so much to forward the interests of Agriculture, 
especially in this branch of rural affairs, as to have ac- 
quired the soubriquet of Father of the Maclura Hedge, 



APPENDIX. 197 

will be read with interest, and beautifully exhibits the 
retiring modesty of the truly great man. Quite a 
discussion has arisen among the agricultural papers, 
as to the honor of the first application of this plant to 
hedging : in this my earnest friend has taken no part. 
Bronson Murray, the late Secretary of the Illinois 
Agricultural Society, however, is not willing to let 
Professor Turner's honors pass so lightly from him. 
In The Prairie Farmer of September 1855, he says : 
I think I am warranted in asserting that, so far as 
the public knows, neither Mr. Downing nor Mr. Neff 
ever did anything to introduce the Osage as a hedge 
upon the prairies. Neither of them ever, so far as 
the public know, had put one rod of plants into the 
prairie soil ; while Professor Turner had as complete 
a hedge some rods in length as any now in existence, 
before Mr. Downing or Mr. Eeff ever said one word 
in its favor. This can be substantiated. In fact, it 
was Professor Turner who corresponded with Mr. 
Downing on the subject, and enlisted his favor and 
influence for it. Both Mr. Downing and Mr. ISTefF 
deserve to be remembered among its most earnest 
and ablest advocates ; but neither of them ever pre- 
tended to demonstrate, by actual experiment, the above 
two propositions ; and especially not the last, which 
Professor Turner did do, and gave to the public the 
results of years of labor and experimenting. This no 
other man did. It was for this reason the farmers of 
Illinois have spontaneously — and justly — and always 
spoken of him as the Father of the Hedge, and will ever 
continue to do so. 

That many persons had thought of this plant for 



198 HEDGING. 

a hedge, and that some had actually tried it around 
house lots and other ornamental places during those 
early days, is not questioned — it is apparent from the 
literature of the time ; but the plants were advertised 
then for sale at from 50 cents to $1 each, as orna- 
mental shrubs in the nurseries ; and no person thought 
of making it the exclusive and cheap hedge-plant of 
the prairies. Professor Turner is not Only the first 
man in Illinois, but the first in the civilized world, so 
far as I have any knowledge, who boldly advocated, 
in the public journals and in private correspondence, 
as well as circulars (the printing and postage of the 
latter alone costing him $100 per annum for several 
years), the exclusive claims of this plant as the only 
practical hedge-plant for the farmers of the West. It 
was not done on the basis of theory, either ; but on 
actual personal practical experience with this and 
many other shrubs, the remnants of which can now be 
seen. They are still standing on his place at Jackson- 
ville. In what manner this exclusive claim was met 
by the public, and especially by the various writers 
in The Prairie Farmer, even those who have very 
short memories have not forgotten. I myself was a 
participant in their ideas, and have a vivid recollec- 
tion of the cautions which were promulgated at that 
day even to such extent as to form the topic for an 
annual address by one of our very best men before 
the Buel Institute, in which that society had paraded 
before them the long array of agricultural humbugs. 

Editorially, The Prairie Farmer noticed its exist- 
ence as early as 1841. * * * Its efforts in a practical 
way were confined, it says, to planting some seeds in 



APPENDIX. 199 

1845. * * * Its advocacy, as 1 remember it, was, for 
years after Turner's positive demonstration of the 
above propositions, always on the cautions, prudent 
side, looking moreover to the various thorns indige- 
nous to this latitude, rather than to the Maclura. Did 
other journals do more? Whatever their action, one 
thing is certain; their course had no influence on 
Prof. Turner. He was the man of the field as well as 
of the pen. ********** 0n his 

first settlement in Illinois, he tried every shrub that 
he conceived likely to supply the want. From Dr. 
Nelson he heard of the Osage, and was at work with 
it before the public journals advocated its claims; 
before they talked about it he was at work with it ; 
before they recorded their confidence in it above any 
other plant, he had his hedges ; before they urged it 
upon popular attention with vigor, he was issuing, 
gratuitously, printed circulars at the rate of one thou- 
sand per annum, among the most intelligent farmers 
of this State. 

Whether some other man actually "introduced this 
plant to the West"— as the editor of The Ohio Cultiva- 
tor says, and as Turner quotes in his circular of 1849, 
concerning Mr. Neff — is not material. It is not the 
question. It was probably other than either of the 
men — probably the French or Indians — since scat- 
tered trees were found in several parts of this State, 
of great age; one "older than the oldest inhabitant 
could rernember,"and this, too, at a date when Turner 
believed he had the only ones in the State. I repeat 
again, it is not the man who "introduced" this plant 
that is the Father of our Hedge system. 



200 HEDGING. 



"Jacksonville, 111., March 10, 1856. 

Dr. Warder — Dear Sir : — Whether I am, as you 
are pleased to express it, ' the Father,' Godfather, or 
Stepfather of the Madura Hedge, seems as yet to be, 
among the knowing ones, a matter of dispute ; and is 
of so little consequence to the world, that I have never 
undertaken to decide the question for myself, nor even 
to read all that others have said about it. I have 
done what God gave me power to do, and others have 
done the same ; and, among us all, I hope good has 
been done to the world, especially the farmers of the 
West. 

I am heartily glad that you have undertaken to 
write upon this subject. I had long purposed to do 
so myself, before I was prevented by the failing of my 
eyes, and the multiplied accumulation of other cares 
and interests ; but whether I ever shall or not, is now 
uncertain, especially as I hope and trust your work 
will preclude all necessity for another. If you find 
anything in any of my writings that can be of any 
service to you, I beg you to use it with entire free- 
dom. 

I am not aware that my own opinions have under- 
gone any especial change, so far as principles are con- 
cerned. Plants are now so cheap that we set them 
thicker (six inches in the row) than we used to do, 
where we wish to stop pigs and fowls without the use 
of the top-brush, thrown down or woven in at the 
bottom. I trim or clip also much less than formerly, 
the first three years, or till a strong root is made, 
then cut to the ground, and trim often. You will see 



APPENDIX. 201 

an adverse article in the March number of The Valley 
Farmer, -St. Louis, originating from Mr. McGinnis, of 
Clay county, Mo., which the editors and several of our 
friends have requested me to answer in the next num- 
ber of that paper, and which I purpose, if able to do : 
not because it is in fact of any consequence (for the 
nature and causes of Mr. McGinnis's failure are appa- 
rent to every reader of his statement, who understands 
the true theory and art of hedging), but because, if 
not noticed in some way, it will be quoted and used 
to the injury of this great interest of the farmers of 
the West. 

Wishing you still the best success in all your great 
and good enterprises for the farmers of the West, I 
am, dear sir, truly yours, J. B. Turner. 



Jno. A. Warder : In the year J 832, at my former 
residence, near the Brighton House, North, of Cincin- 
nati, I planted a hedge made of the Osage Orange. 
From observation and experience, I entertain a high 
opinion of it, being hardy, well-protected with strong, 
sharp spines, having a beautiful deep-green leaf, and 
not subject to injury from stock. It is highly recom- 
mended in an article addressed to John B. Dillon, 
Esq., from Mr. A. H, Ernst, who is so distinguished 
as a successful agriculturist and horticulturist — he 
gives particular directions for the management of the 
Osage Orange, and recommends close planting. Hav- 
ing but few plants, I put them wide apart ; the thrifty 
shoots were cut near the ground, so as to bend and 

9* 



202 HEDGING. 

plait them horizontally — these threw up numerous 
perpendicular shoots, making the hedge as thick as 
was needed. Mr. Wm. Neff has been successful in its 
cultivation for many years. 

This valuable tree is dioecious, and until I discov- 
ered this, I had no fruit. The flowers of the male and 
female are quite different. I have raised plants from 
seed ripened in my garden. The English hawthorn 
will not succeed here, being subject to an insect that 
covers it like a down or mold. When seasoned, the 
wood of the Osage Orange is nearly as hard as lignum 
vitse, and would be valuable to make many tools and 
implements. From the great resemblance its exuda- 
tion bears to that from the gum-elastic tree, may not 
the caoutchouc be obtained from the Osage Orange ? 
One season I confined four lots of silk-worms on four 
varieties of food, viz., Native Mulberry, Motus multi- 
caulis, Chinese Seedling, and Osage Orange. The 
worms preferred the Morus multicaulis • but when 
confined to the Osage Orange, were healthy, fed freely, 
and did well — the cocoons were smaller, but the silk 
was proportionally finer, and I think the better. Spe- 
cimens of the cocoons from the Osage Orange feed- 
ing, I inclose herewith. Late in the season, the leaf 
becomes too hard to be freely eaten for a late crop. 

Most respectfully yours, Dan'l Gano. 



APPENDIX. 203 

A. H. ERNST'S PLAN FOR MAKING HEDGES. 

More than fifty years ago, the public attention was 
directed to the importance of hedging, where stone 
does not abound on the surface. During this period, 
large amounts of money and time have been expended 
in the effort to substitute them for the wooden struc- 
tures for farm inclosures. More recently, a new impe- 
tus has been given to this subject, by the settlers of 
our Western Prairies, where the entire absence of all 
fencing materials has forced on them the necessity of 
its adoption. The practice and experiments in the 
older parts of our country have proved almost an 
entire failure, amounting to an abandonment for all 
practical farming purposes. And the success in the 
West has not been very flattering, nor likely to meet 
the wants of the farmer. 

Much has been written and said of the various 
modes of forming hedges, during this time. Every 
periodical having any pretensions to a connection 
with agriculture or horticulture teems with instruc- 
tions on the subject, as diverse as the writers are 
numerous. It may, therefore, seem presumptuous for 
me to thrust myself among the list of instructors in a 
field already so fully occupied — a field in which the 
fancy and poetical genius has been so fully brought 
to bear. Still, as I shall confine my remarks to my 
own practice and observations, and as our soil and 
climate differ, so we may be permitted to differ on 
results ; and as no good fruits have yet been produced 
from the general practice in use, there can be no ob- 
jection to going back to first principles, and making 



204 HEDGING. 

a right start from that point. Let me not be under- 
stood as speakiug disparagingly of much, that has been 
said : that is not my feeling. 

I will here simply refer to some of the prominent 
mistakes causing failure ; leaving them to be discussed 
as I progress. It is as much my object, however, to 
point out a bad or wrong practice, as that of a correct 
one. Among these are: the use of improper plants; 
improper cultivation ; too much haste and impatience 
to make a fence in height, without proper regard to 
base or bottom ; wide planting ; neglect to replant 
where gaps have occurred by the death of plants ; with 
general inattention to trimming and keeping the border 
clear of weeds and other rubbish ; and obstructing the 
free circulation of air and light on the side of the hedge, 
by the near growth of other plants or trees. 

It is presumed sufficient, by most persons, to put 
the plants in the rows, cut them down once or twice, 
and then let them take their course. All looks well to 
them when the foliage is on ; when, however, deprived 
of this covering, its deformity and worthlessness is 
exposed ; it is found full of gaps and irregular growth, 
with abundant openings at the bottom to accommo- 
date rabbits and pigs with free passage, and very soon 
animals of larger growth. The wider the plants are 
set apart in the row, the more defective will it be 
found in this respect. This I shall show before I get 
through : there is no practice more mischievous in its 
effect than this. 

There is nothing more beautiful and ornamental in 
the landscape of a well-ordered farm than a well- 
formed hedge ; but hardly anything more out of place 



APPENDIX. 205 

than one that has been neglected : it fails to meet the 
object for which it was intended, occupies room, and 
is an unsightly nuisance rather than an ornament. 

We are accustomed to look to Europe, but more 
especially to England, for examples in our agricultu- 
ral pursuits ; so with hedging, and with great propriety 
we may ; but it is to be regretted that there, as with 
us, it is not all as it should be. According to the 
testimony of reliable writers and others, many of their 
hedges are exceedingly slovenly — mere skeletons " for 
the protection of the game," " covers for partridges 
and foxes." Here we want something different, and 
for a better purpose. In a country like ours, where 
stock of every description is permitted to run at large, 
more care and greater security is required as a bar- 
rier against intrusion. Notwithstanding the length 
of time that the public attention has been turned to 
the importance of hedging, few of our farmers have 
realized its importance, and a less number have had 
opportunity to inform themselves correctly on the 
mode of operation from any practical example to 
which they might resort, but have relied on the fan- 
ciful instructions of writers for periodicals, who often 
write without experience. 

The want of knowledge as to plants that are adapted 
to this purpose in our climate, in the first instances, 
was a fruitful source of disappointment. The Haw- 
thorn of England — the great hedge-plant there — and 
even our native thorns, will not endure the clipping 
and exposure to our hot and dry weather and brilliant 
sun. The introduction, however, of the Buckthorn, 
and more recently, of the Osage Orange Maclura — 



206 HEDGING. 

which is perhaps the best plant in the world for hedg- 
ing — has removed the first difficulty. Therefore, we 
may go to the work of hedging with the confident 
assurance of success, if we begin right and persevere. 
The path to this I will endeavor to point out, after a 
few remarks on the principle of vegetation and growth ; 
from which the reasonableness of the mode for grow- 
ing hedges that I am about to present will be appa- 
rent. In this I present no new discovery, but simply 
reiterate an old principle ; and without its observance, 
all efforts will prove abortive. 

Vegetable growth spends itself upwards, but hori- 
zontally, or in an inclination from a perpendicular direc- 
tion only, as it is forced, either from an exuberance 
of vegetative force, or the forcible inclination of the 
plant from an upright position. It does not seek a 
horizontal direction voluntarily. Hence the feeble- 
ness of the laterals, especially the lower ones, compared 
with the shoots near the top of the plant or tree. It 
is true, that there is in some plants a tendency to 
grow more dwarfish and bushy than others, as there 
are some with a pendant habit ; but this does not 
change the general principle. From this it will be 
seen how important it is to check the upright growth 
in hedge-plants, in order to secure the expansion and 
growth at or near the ground — to change its upright 
character, and force the plant in a different attitude 
from its natural one. The simple cutting down and 
forcing out the laterals does not fully accomplish the 
object. It will answer for an inside division, where 
hogs are not permitted at large, but will hardly prove 
sufficiently tight at the base for an outside protection. 



APPENDIX. 207 - 

In cutting back, we simply canse a greater number 
of shoots to proceed from the same point, some of 
which are forced into the lateral positions, while 
others seek the upright direction. These last always 
secure to themselves the chief growth ; and though 
these are again cut back, still the main struggle is to 
resume their natural upright position, and the expen- 
diture of the sap is exhausted to form growth in that 
direction, leaving only for the lower laterals what 
cannot be consumed there. 

I am thus particular, that the mind of the reader 
may be prepared to see the objections to wide plant- 
ing, and also to an upright growth, however carefully 
cut back, to form a base and an impervious outside 
hedge. When speaking of wide planting, I wish to 
be understood . as meaning any distance, in a single 
row, over six inches ; and for a double row in a hedge, 
any distance over eight inches. All beyond this I 
heartily repudiate. 

The chief principles on which hedging rests are : to 
force the plant out of its natural habit ; to dwarf that 
which usually grows to a tree ; to divert the concen- 
tration of strength in a few plants ; not to rely on a 
few absorbents from the soil, requiring long extent 
of root to supply its top, interfering with and dividing 
the nourishment of the soil within the inclosure they 
are designed to protect; to diffuse this strength by 
dividing it among a number of plants, thus to secure 
independent, individual absorbents, with diminished 
roots, confined to a narrow belt in their stretch for 
food, of less luxuriant growth, less liable to overgrowth, 



208 HEDGING. 

to the injury of the next plant, and in the case of the 
death of one, not to leave an irreparable gap. 

It matters not how carefully the cutting back is 
attended to, and how wide the base is formed, if the 
plants are not set close in the rows. The first impetus 
of growth in laterals is more or less in an upright 
direction, and only becomes horizontal or drooping by 
their weight or the crowded state of other shoots 
above. This applies where there is no resistance 
below to prevent. Of course, this will be at right 
angles from the line of the hedge ; not so between 
plants. A little observation will show this. The 
laterals there are rather forced upward than otherwise, 
as they approach each other from plant to plant, and 
are supported in that position by each other as they 
come in contact, forming an archway for the free 
passage of small animals. This will be found invaria- 
bly the case with all such hedging, when critically 
examined with the foliage off. The wider apart the 
plants are set in the row, the more defective will it be 
found. Such has been the result of my observations, 
more recently fully confirmed in the opportunity 
afforded by the kind invitation of the Committee of the 
Ohio State Board of Agriculture to accompany them 
in their examination of hedging. There are defects 
which never can be cured in wide planting by any 
process of pruning or trimming, nor can the space 
between be filled with other plants. It is a well- 
known principle in vegetation that the stronger plants 
always absorb the nourishment from the soil to the 
exclusion of the younger or weaker ones, until they 
die from starvation. Of course, none will grow there. 




APPENDIX. 209 

Having quite fully explained the principle of 
growth, and the results of a neglect to regard this 
principle, with the effects of a bad practice in hedge- 
growing, I will now briefly point out three modes for 
forming a hedge, which experience lias proved to be 
such as reliance can be placed on w T ith the hope of 
success. After having thoroughly prepared the 
ground for the line of hedge by deep plowing or dig- 
ging, of four feet wide, always raising the ground in 
the middle of the border, with a slope each way from 
the line of the plants, which should be set in the mid- 
dle, for the purpose of admitting a free circulation of 
air to the bottom of the hedge. When thus prepared, 
the plants should be inserted, either with a dibble, or 
in a trench made with a spade ; either mode will do, 
(but the latter is the best) if the plants are small. Four 
to five inches for a single row, or six to eight inches 
for a double row, is as far apart as they should be set. 
This work may be performed at any time between 
the fall of the leaves and the expansion of the buds, 
when the weather is not frosty. "When planting is 
completed, they should be cut back, leaving not over 
one inch of the top above the ground. Care should 
be taken to cut back the tap-root to eight or ten 
inches, and also to assort the plants so that those of 
the same size may be planted together. They will 
grow more uniform in this way. • 

The first Summer, the plants only require to' be 
kept clear from weeds and grass. The next Spring, 
they must be again cut down within two inches of the 
ground, and treated in the same way the coming 
Summer. Care must be observed to replant where 



210 HEDGING. 

any have died out ; and this should always be with 
plants as large and old as those in the hedge-rows ; for 
this purpose, there should always be a supply reserved 
in the nursery. 

We have now arrived at the point where a decision 
must be made as to the fence we want ; and in this 
we shall naturally be governed by the pressure to be 
brought against it. If for an inside division, where 
hogs are not allowed, the upright form will answer. 
If, however, for an outside protection, the only safe 
plan is plaiting or plashing. If the hedge is to be on 
the upright principle, it is necessary to cut it back 
the third time, within three inches of the last cutting, 
leaving all the laterals or horizontal shoots below this 
point. The plants will now have formed a strong 
nucleus, from which quite a number of vigorous shoots 
will put out — some forced into the lateral position, 
but with the usual tendency to an upright growth. 
In June, they must be again cut back within five or 
six inches of the last cutting, again carefully pre- 
serving the laterals below this point ; and in July or 
early in August, this process must be repeated, within 
five or six inches of the last cutting. The next Sum- 
mer, the same process must be continued until the 
hedge is the required height ; the base should not, in 
the meantime, be permitted to grow, slovenly and 
carelessly, but should have such shoots as are disposed 
to grow irregular or rampant shortened-in, so as to 
have a uniform, regular, and even surface. It will not 
do to crowd the forming of the hedge faster than this, 
or it will not be worth the trouble it has cost. 

The best form for a hedge is the hog-hack shape. 



APPENDIX. 211 

What is meant by this form is a straight line on either 
side of the hedge from the bottom of the base to a 
point of intersection at the top. This exposes, in the 
best aspect, the greatest surface to light, air, rain, and 
the dews of night — very essential points to the health 
and durability, as also the best form to check a top 
growth to the neglect of the base. In the growth of 
the hedge, this form should always be kept in view. 
Plaiting is the mode adopted with excellent success 
in the hedge inclosing Spring Grove Cemetery. This 
course commences in the same practice above pointed 
out up to the third season. Having secured a good 
growth for a base, all the upright shoots are cut down 
to near the ground, except at intervals of four inches. 
Then stakes are put down in the line of the hedge, 
eight feet apart and four feet high, on w T hich two slats 
are fastened horizontally — the first one foot from the 
ground, the other at the top. When thus prepared, 
all the shoots not cut down are bent over alternately, 
in opposite directions, and crossing each other at 
right angles, so as to form a net-work, and should be 
woven, which is easily done if commenced at the bot- 
tom ; one-half, or the alternate shoot, is cut off at the 
first slat ; the remainder are continued to the upper 
slat, and fastened there. They are fastened by yellow- 
willow ties to each slat, and at each crossing ; this 
keeps them firm and in place until the growth has 
become so intermixed that nothing short of cutting it 
down can remove it. In this form of hedge, the 
shoots not cut off are all forced into an inclined posi- 
tion, whereby the ascent of the sap is impeded, the 
dormant buds below and all along the shoots are 



212 HEDGING. 

brought into action, and soon form a complete, imper- 
vious barrier to man and beast. 

Most of this hedging is planted in double rows, 
eight inches apart, and the plants eight inches apart 
in the row ; and these are set opposite to the open 
space in the other line, which is equivalent to four 
inches in the single row. Part of it is, however, set 
in single rows, plants four inches apart,' and is doing 
quite well. This form of hedge is very beautiful, well 
adapted to ornamental grounds, but is too costly to 
be adopted for general farming purposes. 

The third and last mode for the forming of a hedge 
which I shall describe — that which the farmer must 
adopt as suited to his wants and means, if he hedges 
at all for an outside protection — is plashing. This is 
a very simple process ; the same practice must be 
pursued up to the third year. In describing this 
mode, I do not know that I can do better than to give 
the substance of a writer on horticulture who pos- 
sessed much practical knowledge. In plashing, it is 
best that the upright shoots should be permitted to 
grow to a good length. This the Osage Orage will 
do in one Summer in good soil, after it has been cut 
down three times. 

In all cases of cutting the hedge, it is necessary for 
the operator to provide himself with a good strong 
pair of leather gloves, pruning-saw, and a hedge- 
hook — that is, a heavy instrument with a long and 
sharp edge, and a sort of a hook on the lower part of 
the back, by which the operator can draw the shoots. 

Thus prepared, he will proceed by selecting some 
of the main upright stems, at distances of from three 



APPENDIX. 213 

to four feet, to serve for stakes, which are to be cut 
off to two, three, or four feet, in proportion to the 
thickness and strength of the plants to be plashed 
or laid between them. Where no stems are found 
strong enough, stakes must be driven down ; the dis- 
tance must be determined by the length of the shoots 
that are to be plashed." As the object of these stakes 
is to secure the work when completed, the operator will 
find no difficulty to determine this point. The hedge 
is then to be thinned by cutting down to near the 
ground, leaving only a sufficiency of the best and 
longest shoots, at regular distances of eight inches. 
The operator will then proceed to lay down the 
shoots, first lopping off any stiff, unmanageable or 
straggling side branches, taking care not to cut them 
more than is absolutely necessary to lay and weave 
them between the stakes, almost to a horizontal posi- 
tion, all lying one way. Such shoots as do not yield 
readily to the desired position should be brought to it 
by a sloping cut near the ground, taking care that 
this is not more than is necessary to effect the object. 
This process, it will be seen, brings the shoots one on 
the other, each with a shorter lop as the work 
advances. When the hedge is thus plashed, finish 
the top with some of the largest shoots first cut, 
divesting them of all their side branches, working two 
together, plying round and over one another between 
each stake — that is, thrusting the end in below and 
bringing it across in opposite directions lengthwise 
between the stakes ; then with two others in the same 
way, taking care to secure the ends of the last in the 
grip so as to secure them in their places. Thus pro- 



214 HEDGING. 

ceed until the whole is completed. This forms a finish 
somewhat like the rim of a willow basket. " When 
this is finished, proceed with the hedge-bill to lop off 
any irregular, straggling shoots or branches on the 
side ; then this part of the work is finished. 

Here we have a base that nothing can get through ; 
every plant that has been cut off will throw out a 
number of shoots, and all the dormant buds along the 
shoots laid down will burst and grow, making a com- 
plete web of an intermixed growth, presenting a 
strength that may bid defiance to intruders. If this 
process of plashing is repeated in a year or two, it 
will be the better ; otherwise, it must be cut back on 
it, and treated as directed in the first case, until the 
hedge has attained the desired height. I have prac- 
ticed plashing on the Washington thorn with the de- 
sired success, and feel confident that the Osage Orange 
and Buckthorn will do better. 

Old neglected hedges can be made valuable, if the 
gaps are not too large, by cutting them down, and 
plashing as above directed. 

For trimming a hedge, nothing is better than a 
common Dutch grass-sickle in the hand of an active 
man. He will pass over a great length of hedge in a 
day; all that is necessary is a little practice, when, 
with a quick stroke upwards, he will make a clear cut 
from the bottom to the top. This operation must be 
often repeated, in order to keep the hedge in a neat 
and tidy condition, and the body in a vigorous and 
healthy growth. If this is not attended to, the inside 
will soon become open and ragged, from the exclusion 
of ]ight and air, by the long irregular shoots on the 
outside. 



APPENDIX. 215 

From the above, it will be seen that a continued 
vigilance and care is absolutely essential to the form- 
ing and after preservation of a hedge. And, as before 
observed, those who cannot afford time and patience 
to practice on the principles laid down in the above 
essay, had better not undertake it. They will only, 
by their defeat, discourage others of more perseverance 
from attempting it, and thus do great harm in pre- 
venting this addition of ornament and beauty to our 
rural landscapes. 

Spring Garden, Cincinnati, 1855. 



HEDGE-FENCES. 

{From The Valley Farmer.) 

Messes. Editors : — It has got to be commonly ex- 
pected that The Valley Farmer will never be entirely 
silent on this subject. Please publish the following 
report as the latest and best authority — as it was 
published with the proceedings of that Society at their 
late meeting, in May of the present year. 

The Special Committee on " Live-Fences," by Mr. 
Kobb, their Chairman, submitted the following inter- 
esting and valuable report : 

To the Cincinnati Horticultural Society : 

Your Committee respectfully report, that on a care- 
ful examination of all the different plants that have 
been presented for our consideration for growing live- 
fences, and after numerous experiments, we arrive at 
the conclusion that the 

Osage Orange (Madura aurantiacd) — aplantderiv- 



216 HEDGING. 

ing its name from Vm. McClure — (the Bois d'Arc of 
the French, and the English Bow- wood) contains more 
than any other plant all the requisites for neat and 
substantial hedging. 

Nativity. — The Madura is found in great abund- 
ance and of most luxuriant growth near Red River, 
in Texas and Arkansas, and abounds in all the coun- 
try immediately east of the Rocky Mountains, north 
thirty-four degrees north latitude. 

Acclimation. — Numerous and oft-repeated experi- 
ments have proved the fact that the Maclura will 
nourish well in all parts of the United States, from 
Maine to Florida. 

Planting the Seed. — The ground must be thoroughly 
prepared in the best gardening order ; then plant the 
seed in drills, eighteen or twenty inches apart, with 
about twelve seeds to the foot in the drills — planting 
in October or November. For Spring planting, the 
seed must either be frozen through the Winter or 
soaked at the time of planting. If the seed is to be 
frozen, it should be mixed with sand, and placed in 
boxes that will not hold water, and then exposed to 
the freezing weather through the Winter, and planted 
as soon as they begin to sprout in the Spring. 

If the seed is to be soaked, as soon as the ground 
grows warm in April, put the seeds in a tight vessel, 
and cover them with hot water (not boiling), and soak 
them in warm water about seven days, changing the 
water once or twice to prevent fermentation. Then 
put the seeds in shallow boxes, and mix with sand ; 
keep moist and warm until they show signs of sprout- 
ing, which will be in a few days ; then plant as be- 



APPENDIX. 217 

fore recommended; but be careful never to select 
grounds that crust or bake. Either of the above 
modes of planting are perfectly reliable. 

Setting the Hedge. — As soon as the ground becomes 
settled in the Spring it should be plowed to the depth 
of twelve or eighteen inches, and thoroughly pul- 
verized for the reception of the young trees. A line 
should then be stretched, and the trees carefully re- 
moved from the nursery, and planted with strict 
regard to uniformity of size and distance. 

Distance of Planting. — The Maclura is a third-rate 
forest-tree, and as such, requires either natural or 
artificial dwarfing. The former is preferable, and can 
be best accomplished by close planting. For this 
purpose we recommend planting the trees six inches 
apart, in a single row. The plant thus naturally loses 
the nature of the tree, and grows into a shrub, and 
still retains all its wonted health and vigor, and makes 
a good protection sooner, and at a less cost, than any 
other mode of planting. Great care should be taken 
to fill all vacancies as soon as they occur, that they 
may have a uniform growth ; and thus all gaps and 
weak places in the fence will be avoided. 

Cultivation and Pruning. — After planting, the 
hedge should be cultivated with care for two years, 
keeping the ground well pulverized, and clear of grass 
and weeds. The first Winter after planting, the trees 
will be liable to heaving up, by the action of the frost. 
To guard against this, the ground must be well drained 
by running a furrow with a plow on each side of the 
hedge, throwing the earth towards the plant. After 
the trees have thus grown two years, they have then 

10 



218 



HEDGING. 



acquired a strong and vigorous root, and you may 
begin your system of heading down and training. In 
the Spring of the third year, the trees should be cut 
down to the surface of the ground. Each root will 
send up a number of strong, thrifty shoots ; and as 
soon as these have grown to the height of one foot, 
cut them off within two inches of the ground. The 
shoots thus cut off will send up an additional number 
of sprouts from the place of cutting. When these 
have grown ten or twelve inches, cut them off down 
within two inches of the last cutting, and thus con- 
tinue pruning several times during the season, always 
keeping in view the final shape and appearance of 
your hedge — preserving proportion and regularity of 
form from the beginning. First secure a good and 
sufficient base ; then let your fence rise gradually and 
beautifully, and train it into whatever form your fancy 
may dictate. Charles Kobb, \ 

R. Buchanan, > Committee. 

F. G. Carey, ) 

The President, Dr. "Warder, and Mr. Mears, re- 
marked that they desired to be understood as protest- 
ing against the views of the report as to the spaces of 
planting — preferring at least twelve inches space be- 
tween the plants. 

Strange ! that this matter of distance of setting 
plants in hedge-row is still a question unsettled. Yet 
such is the case. It was disputed upon at the meeting 
at Jacksonville last Winter. We have some facts to 
present at a more favorable time, that shall help to 
settle this question ; and we hope that others will be 



APPENDIX. 219 

called out from different points. Our experience has 
led us thus far to adopt the plan of setting exactly 
seven and one-fifth inches apart — that is just five plants 
to the yard, or twenty-seven plants to the rod, which 
is exactly eight thousand eight hundred plants per 
mile. We believe this distance is near enough ; but 
we recommend great care in selecting and classifying 
plants. " Sleeper & Lindly." 

"July, 1857." 



EVERGREENS : 



THEIB USES FOE 



SHELTER, ECONOMY, AND ORNAMENT; 



BISECTIONS FOB 



Iatttittjj, Urttitinjj, itib W,*u$tmnt; 



WITH AN EXTENDED 



0-A.TuftuX.OGt-TJE- 



BT 



JOHN A. WARDER. 



EVERGREENS. 



[In this Essay upon Evergreens, I shall endeavor 
simply to indicate some of the objects proposed in 
planting them, snch as their ornamental beauty and 
their uses for shelter. Under the latter head their 
economy to the farmer will be urged. 

The best modes and seasons for planting them will 
be discussed, and the manner of pruning, and other 
treatment, will be considered. Then will follow lists 
and descriptions of different evergreens, with indica- 
tions of their different capabilities for the plantation, 
and for application in the arts of life.] 

Ornament. — Miss Cooper says, in her Rural Hours, 
" I think a fine tree near a house is a much greater 
embellishment than the thickest coat of paint that 
could be put on its walls, or a whole row of wooden 
columns to adorn its front ; nay, a large, shady tree 
in the door-yard is much more desirable than the 
most expensive mahogany and velvet sofa in the par- 
lor." Who cannot appreciate the beauty of a fine 
evergreen, or, better still, groups of fine evergreens 
about a country residence ? He who cannot, should 
be condemned, for the rest of his life, to be shut up in 
one of the many dreary, desolate, bare and unpro- 



224 EVEEGEEENS. 



tected farm-houses, that are so common throughout 
our country; there he should be confined, with no- 
thing like tree or shrub, to refresh his weary eyes, 
nothing to relieve the bare and desolate appearance 
of his vis a vis neighbor, who occupies just such an- 
other desolate castle. This byway of punishment; 
but perhaps the moral treatment of such a case might, 
after all, be more efficacious than the physical. The 
most indifferent person could surely be made to ap- 
preciate the difference between such a scene of black 
desolation, and the snug nestling cottage, embowered 
in bright evergreens, screened from the northern 
blasts, and protected from the western winds, by belts 
and groups judiciously arranged. This moral treatment 
already begins to have its effect upon our people, so 
far as it has been able to extend its influence : the 
isolated plantations of evergreens are all nuclei, 
around which others are clustering under the con- 
tagious effects of imitation, until they are isolated no 
longer ; but the people of whole neighborhoods are 
becoming tree-planters, and the entire aspect of our 
residences is being changed. 

Evergreens are particularly valuable for the pur- 
pose of ornamentation, since they are always objects 
of beauty ; Summer and Winter alike, they lend us 
their shelter. They are coming into requisition more 
and more ; and indeed they should, for by their means 
a fine picturesque effect may be produced at a very 
moderate expense. 

One of the commonest faults in planting evergreens 
is their situation in regard to the house ; and is so 
frequent that it should be pointed out in this place. 






ECONOMY. 225 

I refer to the common practice of planting the little 
stranger in the dooryard, very close to the building. 
"When first obtained from the forest or the nursery the 
plant will have cost something either in money or labor ; 
it is often a wee thing, and certainly, if well shaped, 
it is a very pretty object, hence it is jealously set close 
to the window. Were it always to remain a sort of 
parlor-pet, this position might answer very well ; but 
it is to grow, and develop itself into a large tree, and 
in so doing, it should preserve its fair proportions: 
for this, space is required ; if crowded against the 
house, its beauty will be marred, and, instead of being 
of service, and a beautiful object, it will become an 
eyesore and a nuisance. 

The economy of planting evergreens may be com- 
puted in dollars and cents ; for while these trees miti- 
gate the severity of a boreal Winter, they will enable 
us to economize in the amount of fuel consumed. 
J. J. Thomas has stated his conviction, after considera- 
ble observation, and actual experience, that, on many 
bleak situations, at least one half of the fuel consumed 
might be saved, by planting twenty-five to fifty good 
evergreen trees across the sweep of the prevailing 
winds. This effect, I am satisfied, would also be very 
much increased by planting evergreen hedges as 
screens and shelters. Only think of saving half the 
expense of the wood-house ; and how many farmers 
of our country now spend at least fifty dollars a year, 
in this item, when, too, they have nothing but the cut- 
ting and hauling to provide ; the saving of half this 
sum annually would yield a nice little fund in a few 

10* 



226 EVERGREENS. 

years, infinitely greater than the interest on the invest- 
ment made in planting. 

A writer in The Albany Cultivator speaks to the 
point : " We have long held the opinion, that the cha- 
racter and morals of a rnral community are necessarily 
improved by that most interesting of rnral embellish- 
ments, ornamental planting. But for those who can- 
not appreciate these advantages, we shall present 
another view of the subject — the saving in dollars 
and cents. This the writer has had an opportunity 
of verifying in his own case. 

ISTine years ago, finding a serious inconvenience 
from the sweep of Winter tempests, to which his 
residence was much exposed, a large propotion of 
evergreens was mingled with the trees and shrubbery, 
then newly set out. About a dozen white pines, as 
many American arbor vitae, and a few balsams, white 
spruce, Norway firs, and hemlocks, were placed, so 
far as practicable, on those sides of the house most 
exposed — regard being had, at the same time, to the 
exclusion of uninteresting points of view. 

" ]STow for the economy of the plantation, which 
some of the neighbors thought was entirely useless 
labor : it has saved the present Winter, by the pro- 
tection it affords against storms and wind, at least ten 
dollars in firewood ; and this amount saved is increas- 
ing every year, as the trees advance in growth. The 
cost of procuring and setting out the evergreens was 
about three dollars." 

In another mode, evergreens will prove economical 
to the farmers of many parts of the country, especially 
in the prairies — I mean, in the shelter they will afford 



SHELTER. 227 

to cattle during the Winter — breaking the force of the 
bleak winds to which the poor creatures are exposed 
in the open fields, they will sensibly modify the tem- 
perature, and thus economize in the food they con- 
sume, just as barns and sheds contribute to their com- 
fort, and are economical to the proprietor, in regions 
where agriculture has reached a more advanced stage. 
Those who have farmed only where barns and other 
stock shelters are common, can form little idea of the 
manner in which the beef and pork of our great mar- 
kets are produced; nor do they dream, that of the 
thousands of cattle, sheep, and hogs, which supply the 
hungry millions, not a tithe have ever been inside of 
a barn. In the absence of such proper shelters, as 
the nice farmer would consider absolutely essential, 
but which are not to be found in the great feeding 
farms of the country, these shelters of evergreens, and 
belts of other timber, will prove of the greatest advan- 
tage and economy. 

This operation cannot be too strenuously urged upon 
the farmers of the great West, where the expanse of 
prairie land exposes every object to the fury of the 
winds, that are scarcely interrupted by the occasional 
groves of timber, as they sweep over hundreds of miles 
in their onward course. The first object of the settler 
upon such lands should be, to plant timber, and among 
this he should provide a large proportion of evergreens. 
Even in the hill-country, in the midst of a heavily- 
wooded region, upon the Ohio river, thousands of 
cedars and other evergreens may be planted with the 
happiest effect upon a farm of moderate size. I have 
now growing some two thousand evergreens, of differ- 



228 EVERG-KEENS. 

ent sorts, for planting, with this view, upon one hun- 
dred and fifty acres — and. more will be needed. 

Transplanting .> — Many persons suppose that a tree 
may be planted like a post; that the object is so to 
fix the plant in the ground that it will not fall over ; 
and they forget that it has vitality to be preserved, 
and that this vitality is often a very delicate thing, 
needing great tenderness and care for its preservation. 
Such planters, being averse to extra labor, will open 
but a small hole ; and in digging up the tree, they 
will take little care to preserve the roots, so as to have 
as large a proportion as possible of these most import- 
ant organs attached to the young plant. In trans- 
planting evergreens, the preservation of these rootlets 
is particularly desirable ; but besides this, it is import- 
ant to have them preserved from the action of the 
atmosphere ; they should never be for a moment un- 
necessarily exposed to the sun, or winds, or frost ; for 
in all the resinous or terebinthinate trees, the proper 
juices of the roots are of such a character, that when 
once dried, they cannot be restored to their fresh con- 
dition, by the application of water, or moisture, as is 
the case, to a certain extent, w r ith most deciduous 
trees ; once dried, the roots of evergreens are gone 
forever ; they are no longer useful ; but, indeed, be- 
come deleterious agents — dead parts, which must 
slough away from the stock ; if, perchance, the whole 
plant does not follow the same process. 

The preservation of the roots, then, and their pro- 
tection from external agents, becomes a matter of the 
first necessity in the removal of evergreens. This may 
be accomplished in different ways. The ground where 



TRANSPLANTING. 229 

they stand, if in a state of nature, may be prepared so 
as to effect this. A trench may be dug around the tree 
the Summer before it is to be transplanted, especially 
if it be large ; the extremities of the roots being thus 
cut, and the trench left open, or filled with rubbish, 
an increase of the fibres nearer the stem will follow, 
and this ball of earth will be held more firmly toge- 
ther, when the tree is removed in the following "Win- 
ter and Spring. The time for transplanting large 
trees of this class is often selected with a view to hav- 
ing the earth solidified by frost. In the Fall or 
Spring, the tree is dug, and laid upon its side; water 
is poured upon the ball, and allowed to freeze into a 
a solid mass, when the whole is removed to its future 
site, a sufficient hole having been previously opened. 
The Summer root-pruning is a great desideratum, 
where practicable, with many kinds of trees that are 
to be taken from their natural position in open woods, 
fields, or fence-rows. But a similar process, with even 
better results, has always been practiced with nursery- 
trees : in every well-managed establishment, they 
have been transplanted from time to time, and the 
soil among them has been frequently stirred in their 
cultivation ; hence their roots are in a very different 
condition from those of a wilding. There is also a 
difference in the soils in which they have grown. 
Sandy, open soils, generally furnish plants well-pro- 
vided with small roots ; while those growing in stiff, 
tenacious, clayey lands, will be found to have longer, 
scattered, and bare roots, reaching out beyond the 
limits usually opened by the spade in digging up the 
tree : this is an important fact for nurserymen to bear 



230 EVERGREENS. 

in mind, since their reputation will suffer with the 
unsuccessful plantations from their grounds, that are 
too apt to follow, when they send out plants that are 
not well furnished with roots. 

When the tree is to be removed, a cloudy and still 
day is to be preferred rather than a bright, sunny, 
and windy one. Many persons, also, envelop the 
whole mass of roots and earth in bagging, to exclude 
the air and to retain the soil, which, if at all sandy 
and friable, is very apt to fall off. Boxes are often 
used in removing smaller specimens, or tubs made by 
cutting barrels in two. This plan is very desirable 
if the trees are to be kept some time out of the ground, 
or if the plants are to be transported to a distance. 
Large flower-pots are often used with the smaller 
plants, and they offer a very good means of transport- 
ation. Handsome evergreens, put into pots in the 
Autumn, may be used for ornamenting a door-yard 
as a winter-garden, and can be transferred to their 
permanent sites at any time during the following 
Spring or Summer with perfect safety. I have set 
out such specimens in the month of June, without 
losing a plant. This plan is very desirable for those 
who are commencing a new home ; for they may pro- 
duce an immediate effect about their houses in the 
first Winter, and thus take off the bleakness and un- 
finished appearance that always follows the labors of 
the house-builders. The hurry of Spring planting is 
also relieved by being enabled to transfer the ever- 
greens to their permanent sites at any convenient 
time. 

The ground should always be rather moist when 



TRANSPLANTING. 231 

the trees are dug up, as in this condition it will ad- 
here better to the roots ; though planting evergreens, 
and all other trees, should never be done when the 
soil is in a sticky, pasty condition. Water may be 
used for puddling the ground, as the holes are being 
filled up, and if the roots have become bare of soil, 
they should always be dipped in a creamy paste of 
clay, or a mixture of earth and cow manure, reduced 
to a proper consistence by the addition of water. 

Before proceeding with the work of transplanting, 
it is essential to pay some attention to the preparation 
of the soil for the trees. Where a plantation is to be 
made, the ground should be well dug to the depth of 
a foot or more ; good plowing and subsoiling will 
answer very well, and drainage should be practiced, 
where necessary. Almost any good soil will grow 
evergreens ; but there are some species that require a 
peculiar kind of earth. If the land be poor or ex- 
hausted, it may be manured with great advantage by 
applying decayed leaves from the woods, rotten sods, 
or even good surface-soil from the road-sides or com- 
mons. 

An excellent compost may be made of peat earth, 
or vegetable mould, mixed with ashes, and allowed to 
remain some months, if possible, to be decomposed — 
an addition of sand and well-rotted manure, about the 
time of using, will add to its value ; or a barrow of well- 
rotted manure to a cart-load of coal-ashes, mixed with 
a quantity of mould or common garden-soil, will be 
serviceable. Evergreens do not relish fresh animal 
manures. If the trees look unhealthy, and fail to 
make satisfactory growth, a top-dressing of either a 



232 EVERGREENS. 

bushel of ashes to each, or one pound nitrate of soda 
to a square rod, applied after stirring the soil to a depth 
of six inches, will much improve their color and gene- 
ral condition. 

Time for Planting. — Evergreens have been moved 
successfully at almost every season of the year. Some 
persons advocate one period, while others insist upon 
a different time for the work. That which appears 
to have been most successful, is the early Spring, 
when the necessary indications may be controlled. 
The "Winter, or late in the Autumn, is recommended by 
those who remove large trees with a frozen mass of 
earth; some planters prefer to wait until the new 
shoots have begun to grow ; but at this time care must 
be taken, lest the young growth droop. At the com- 
pletion of these shoots, in midsummer, the plants of 
some varieties will bear removal. The early Spring, 
when the plants are dormant, is the season in which I 
have been most successful, and this is the experience 
of many others. The season may be prolonged by 
digging the plants early, and setting them back in the 
soil till wanted for planting. 

With regard to the appropriate arrangement of the 
trees, it will not be advisable here to enter into a dis- 
cussion of the subject of landscape gardening, though 
much of the effect of the plantation, in future years, 
will depend upon the proper disposal of the trees in 
regard to their shapes, altitudes, and contrasts of color. 
The planter should be familiar with the habit, annual 
growth, and outlines of every tree and shrub he in- 
tends to set out ; he may thus avoid the blunders we 



TIME FOE PLANTING. 233 

constantly see committed in planting, even by those 
who profess to be landscape gardeners. 

Beautiful scenery, with varied character, may be 
produced by judicious planting on almost any piece 
of ground. Cominon sense has well been suggested 
as the best guide to direct the planter, who has a 
knowledge of the characters of the trees and shrubs 
he is setting out. This will be likely to produce infi- 
nitely better results than the blind imitation of plans, 
that may or may not have been well adapted to their 
original places ; but which are too often followed by 
those who profess great skill in this line, without ex- 
ercising any real consideration of the adaptation of 
their designs to the grounds upon which they are to 
be executed. 

The following suggestions from the pen of James 
Richardson, Jr., of Dedham, Mass., have a value which 
entitles them to a place in the memory of all who 
would create forms of natural beauty in " living 
green :" — " If we would produce an effect, either lovely 
or picturesque, we must follow beautiful Nature, avoid 
all stiff, straight lines, all precise regularity and uni- 
formity, and dispose our trees in graceful groups, with 
here and' there a single tree of fine form and habit, 
resting its rich dense foliage upon the green lawn. 
Evergreens have a very natural and pleasing effect 
planted upon a slope or steep bank — especially if 
there be mossy rocks — different shades of green being 
mingled by way of contrast ; or, if we wish to give 
the appearance of distance, to place those with lighter 
hue and finer foliage in the back ground, with those 
of more sombre colors, such as the Fir and Black 



234 EVEEGREENS. 

Spruce, and the Pines with coarser foliage, in front. 
This, though difficult to manage, has the effect of per- 
spective. Larches may be combined to advantage 
with the evergreens in the back ground. A collection 
of beautiful evergreens, tastefully arranged, with an 
underwood or bordering of [Rhododendron, Kalmia, 
and our rich, green, trailing Yew, is one of the most 
charming pictures that can meet the eye, in Winter 
especially. There are certain trees, however, we con- 
fess, that lose much of their beauty by being crowded 
in with others, and only appear to their best advan- 
tage when set alone. This is particularly true of the 
Hemlock, and the Black and Norway Spruces, and 
the Arbor Vitse ; at least they should form the outside 
of a group, while the stiff, ungraceful Fir, gives the 
finest effect by thrusting its tall spires through the 
masses of softer foliage, by which it should be sur- 
rounded. Evergreens, however, when set alone, should 
be allowed to grow naturally, with their lower branches 
leaning upon the lawn. Indeed, nothing is in worse 
taste than an evergreen with its branches lopped off 
half way up. It is but half a tree. It resembles a 
wretched man, who has undergone some surgical ope- 
ration that has taken his arms off to his shoulders; 
and we should as soon think of shaving off the wavy, 
silken tresses of a fair girl — Chinese fashion — up to 
the crown of her head, as of mangling in this way a 
beautiful tree. The Black Spruce, with its thick- 
tufted, and dense foliage, of sombre deep sea-green — 
the Norway, with its fringed branches of bright gold- 
bronzy hue — and the graceful, feathery Hemlock — are 
objects of unwearied delight, when thus treated. If 



TIME FOE PLACING. 235 

the upper branches tend, when young, to overshadow 
the lower, they may be easily clipped, so that those 
below may never suffer from the exclusion of sunlight 
and air." 

Evergreens are desirable not only in the Northern 
section of our Union, but in the sunny South, also, 
they are of great value in the ornamenting of rural 
homes, and some of the most beautiful varieties of 
evergreens are adapted to the Southern climate. The 
non-resinous are among the most beautiful of these. 
The new Araucarias, Cryptomerias, Junipers, Deodars, 
and even the Norfolk Island Pine, of surpassing beauty, 
may be successfully planted there — though too tender 
to succeed in the Northern States, and embrace some of 
the most beautiful trees and shrubs. The magnificent 
Live-oaks, the glorious Magnolias, the exquisite Holly, 
the Wild Olive or Lauri mundi, the Orange, and 
many others, are admirably adapted for ornamenting 
Southern homes, and, in many instances, they have 
been judiciously applied with most excellent effect. 
The evergreen hedges around some Southern gardens 
have attracted deserved admiration, and are a source 
of much pleasure and comfort, as well as * security, to 
their owners. The Holly, Lauri mundi, Cherokee 
Kose, and Yucca, as well as Cedars, and other ever- 
greens, make beautiful protective fences about the 
gardens and orangeries, and are infinitely preferable, 
both for ornament and use, to the wretched-looking 
picket-fences, too often occupying such situations, 
even in the towns in many parts of the Southern 
country. 

Pruning. — Evergreens differ in their ability to bear 



236 EVERGREENS. 

pruning ; but all may be pruned with safety, if with 
good judgment, and most of them require trimming, 
at some period of their growth. Many appear to 
assume their proper forms of beauty in a natural way, 
and some of the most beautiful specimens I have ever 
beheld were of the native growth, upon which neither 
knife nor bill-hook had ever intruded. The chief 
rules are, to shorten-in protruding branches, in order 
to preserve symmetry, and cause thickening, and 
to cut, or pinch, or twist, all shoots that have an 
aspiring tendency, likely to interfere with the one 
main stem or leader, which should reign supreme in 
all the conical terebinthinate trees. Trimming up this 
class of trees should never be practiced, unless the 
lower limbs become shabby, as their beauty is most 
complete when they are well furnished from the sur- 
face of the ground, the lower limbs being always the 
longest. The pyramidal growing kinds, especially, 
should have their bases resting upon the ground. 

If in the removal of evergreens the roots have been 
considerably injured, it is generally well to make a 
corresponding reduction of the top by the process of 
" shortening-in " the side branches, cutting within an 
inch of the place on the larger branch, where it forked 
out, applying to the wound a solution of gum shellac 
in alcohol, or grafting wax. Some writers, with a 
show of reason, advocate shortening-in in all cases of 
removal. 

It has been recommended where an evergreen, 
such as the White Pine, Silver Fir, &c, has lost 
its leading shoot, to cut back all the shoots in the 
uppermost whorl, to within an inch of the main stem, 



PBUNING. 237 

covering the cut with shellac solution, and a new up- 
right shoot will probably be formed. 

A quaint writer, in The London Cottage Gardener, 
gives the following excellent directions for pruning 
evergreens : " When people have leisure in Winter, 
they know that it is not the right time to put their 
evergreens into good shapes, or keep them to their 
proper bounds ; and in Summer, when the work should 
be attended to, they know just as well that they have 
no time to attend to such things. Young evergreens 
get up, in the course of a few years, with all sorts of 
defects ; and fifteen or twenty years hence, a practiced 
eye can see what has been going on among them now, 
as well, if not better, than if the same eyes were pre- 
sent this very July. Leaders and side-branches grow 
as they list. Fastigiate and upright growing sorts get 
round-headed forms — round-headed ones grow to one 
side, the leading limbs to this or that side of the tree 
— all this, and much more besides, for the want of the 
pruning-knife, or of the finger-and-thumb way of stop- 
ping, applied regularly at the proper season. It is 
not too much to say, that in a first-rate garden the 
pruner is, or should be, as busy in July as at any 
other period of the year ; and, as a criterion as to how 
far he is advanced in his art, we shall lay it down 
thus : A stranger looking at an evergreen bush or tree, 
of any size or age, directly after it has been pruned, 
should not be able to perceive, at a cursory glance, 
that the knife has touched it for the last twelve months. 
If one can see that an evergreen has been recently 
cut-in, depend upon it, the pruner wants a notch or 
two. The worst of the matter is, however, that it is 



238 EVEEGEEENS. 

very difficult to convey, by verbal or written descrip- 
tions, a just notion of how this high style of art is 
effected. 

" One of the first fundamental rules in pruning ever- 
greens is, that the lowest branches should be the long- 
est, whatever the shape of the head may be. There 
is no exception to this rule that I know of. No sooner 
is a higher branch allowed to grow out further from 
the main stem of a tree, or from the general mass of 
branches of a bush, than the lower branches, than a 
direct error is committed; and if not remedied by 
cutting-in this longer branch, a sure foundation is laid 
for the destruction of the lower part of the tree, which 
will eventually cause it to grow naked below, because 
the longer branches will shade the others, and throw 
off the rain from them. You may see examples of 
this bad management along the road sides, in every 
parish in England. Hedges, in general, are so un- 
skillfully treated, all over the country, that there is no 
lack of bare bottoms anywhere, and this from allow- 
ing the hedge to be nearly as broad at the top as at 
the bottom. Let us, therefore, bear in mind, that 
every branch, yea, every leaf of an evergreen, should 
stand in the same relation to the others as the slates 
and tiles on a roof, no matter what the outline of the 
head be. 

"The second rule is, that no leaf should be cut through 
in pruning an evergreen, clipping evergreen hedges 
does not come under this rule. The last rule applies 
to the mode of cutting. JSTo cut ends should be seen 
on the bush or tree ; and that is effected by beginning 
the cut on the opposite side to where you stand, and 



PEUNING. 239 

always cutting with an up stroke ; then the cut part 
will either face downward, or towards the centre of 
the plant ; and if you cut close to a lateral branch, 
or to the bottom of a leaf-stalk, as all good pruners do 
in the Summer, and as the worst kind of pruners do 
in the Winter, I should like to know how I, or any- 
body else, could find out, at a yard distant, that your 
plant has been pruned at all. 

" There is a very common and most mischievous 
pruning-cut, which, as far as I am aware, has never 
yet been mentioned in print, and I hope to put scores, 
yea thousands, to the blush when I mention it, for of 
all the cuts in this cutting world, it is the one against 
which there ought to be an Act of Parliament to put it 
down ; but I am wrong — it is not a cut at all, but a 
snap-off, and is done in this wise : a knife is held firmly 
by the four fingers of the right hand, the edge facing 
the thumb, the thumb itself being free, but bent on 
mischief; a rose-shoot, or the branch of some other 
plant, is now grasped between the edge of the knife 
and the thumb, the shoot is then pressed against the 
edge of the knife by the thumb, and by a turn or twist 
of the hand, the shoot is snapped asunder on the edge 
of the knife, leaving a bruised or jagged cut, just as 
if a wild goat had gnawed it off. Now a dozen of 
such bruised or gnawed cuts over the top of a fine rose- 
bush are as bad as anything can be, and will be sure 
to do it much injury, as the bruised ends will either 
die back, or let in the wet, or be a harbor for insects 
or their eggs, beside the slovenliness of the thing." 



240 EVERGREENS. 



EVERGREEN HEDGES. 



Beautiful hedges may be made by planting rows 
of almost any of the common, thick-growing evergreen 
trees and shrubs. The Norway Spruce has been ap- 
plied in this way ; the common Cedar is very effica- 
cious, and much used for producing a shelter-hedge, 
where a quick, permanent, and effective wind-screen 
is wanted, but is liable to grow thin at the bottom. 
The American Arbor vitce and the Hemlock are ad- 
mirable, where a neatly-trimmed garden or lawn ever- 
green hedge is desired — one which can be kept within 
bounds. Where a moderate or low hedge is needed, 
as for a small cemetery lot, or subdivisions of a flower- 
garden, or boundary of a parterre, nothing can be 
better than the Tree-box. In the South, the Holly 
and the Lauri mundi are the favorites ; the Euonymus 
balearicus is also used ; and several other evergreens 
are applicable. The Cherokee Rose is a good farm- 
hedge. 

The general rules for planting the hedge, laid down 
in a previous section of this volume, the Hedge Manual, 
are equally applicable to the evergreen live-fences. 
The distance from plant to plant becomes now a 
matter of great importance. Those who may not 
think well of my recommendations to plant the Osage 
Orange at distances of a foot or eighteen inches, will 
now probably complain, when they learn that my 
cedars, at two years old, were set three feet apart ; 
but so perfectly are the branches united, it would be 
difficult to tell where the stems of these plants emerge 
from the ground, in a hedge of three years' growth. 



TEIMMING. 241 

I should not desire to plant the Hemlock or the Ame- 
rican Arbor mice any closer than the Cedars. The 
Tree-box may be planted at one foot, especially where 
an immediate effect is desired ; if set too closely, for 
the sake of present appearances, it may be thinned in 
a few years by removal of alternate plants, but it will 
be more difficult to produce an uniform surface, than 
if planted wider at first. 

Trimming. — The general rules, already laid down, 
will apply here ; except that the evergreens must be 
treated as a completed hedge from the first. There is 
here no cutting down to the ground, as with the Osage 
Orange, to produce lateral branches : they are already 
provided in abundance in the young plants. "We may, 
after planting, remove the tops of some of the tallest, 
to bring all to the same level, and many gardeners, 
using tall plants, cut-in the tops severely. The trim- 
ming must be conducted upon the principles previous- 
ly advocated, so as to preserve the pyramidal shape 
with the greatest exactness : no perpendicular walls, 
no flat tops in the evergreen hedge should ever be 
allowed ; the two sides should meet in a middle line. 

The cutting or clipping may be done with the gar- 
den shears, by which all protruding spray is removed 
to the proper surface of the hedge, which should be 
kept even and regular as possible. This process must 
be performed from time to time, during the season of 
growth, or at its close, more or less frequently, as the 
plants are young and vigorous, or older, and have 
reached their mature state ; in the latter case, they 
will require very little clipping. While pruning the 
hedge, care must be taken to preserve the upper line, 

11 



24:2 EVERGREENS. 

regular and even, as this will contribute to the beauty 
of the whole affair, and any deviations from it will 
sadly detract from the appearance of finish and com- 
pleteness which should characterize the evergreen 
hedge. 

James Busby, who travelled extensively in Spain 
and France, for the sake of investigating the culture 
of the grape, observes, that one great cause of the low 
state of agriculture in the former country was, the 
want of inclosures to protect the growing crops. Yiue- 
yards and gardens alone were allowed to be inclosed. 
He describes the hedges of Andalusia as being made 
very readily by planting the Prickly Pear — Cactus — 
and the Aloe — Agave. The former makes a fence in 
two years, which is said to last for forty years ; and, 
if cared for, Cactus hedges might be perennial. He 
says, it is not possible to imagine a more effectual 
fence, or one more easily planted and kept in order. 
The only objection is, that they sometimes occupy too 
much space, and that the trimmings are so tenacious 
of life, that they will live even if thrown together on 
a spot of dry ground. This difficulty could be obvi- 
ated, and the land benefited by composting these 
trimmings with lime. The Aloe hedge is also much 
used in Spain, but inferior to the Cactus, because the 
plants die when they have flowered. 



CATALOGUE OF EVERGREENS. 



In this list of Evergreens, little attempt at classifi- 
cation has been attempted, beyond arranging species 
of each genus together. Many have been introduced 
that are not usually planted, others that are not easily 
obtained, and some of no particular interest or beauty, 
except in the eyes of the curious amateur and collec- 
tor; but it was considered best to make the list as 
complete as possible. This has cost much labor, in 
collecting, condensing, and collating the accounts of 
the best authors, so as to present, in brief language, 
the leading characters of each, which will enable the 
planter to arrange them judiciously upon his grounds, 
with a view to the best ulterior effects. In this work 
of condensation, the chief sources of information were : 
the elegant work of Michaux, the Sylva Americana, 
and the complete descriptive and systematic Arbore- 
tum Britannicum of the indefatigable Loudon, con- 
firmed, in many cases, by extensive personal observa- 
tion of the plants of our own country. 



CONIFERS, AJBIJSTWJS-COmvmOTJS EVERGREENS. 

Plants of this family, Conifer®, are all woody, and 
generally characterized by persistent foliage ; they are 



244 



EVERGREENS. 



also provided with a proper juice, turpentine — hence 
they are called terebinthinates. In a systematic study 
o£ these plants, they may be separated into two sec- 
tions — Abietikle, and Ctjpeessike. 

The Abietdoe constitute a very important class of 
trees — they are generally lofty and pyramidal, and 
have needle-like leaves. They are natives of temper- 
ate regions, and chiefly of the Northern Hemisphere. 
One of the physiological peculiarities of these plants 
is, that the roots do not develop buds ; hence they 
. never sucker, although they run near the surface, and 
often rise above it, forming knees. The trunks always 
grow erect and straight, often attaining a height of 
one hundred and fifty feet, and sometimes reaching 
two hundred feet. When clustered, the stems are 
beautifully clean, and tapering gradually to a great 
height without limbs. The branches are generally 
verticillate and horizontal in their direction ; and as 
the trees grow old the spray is apt to be pendant. 
The natural character of uprightness may be changed 
by repeatedly pinching out the leading shoot for a few 
years, by which the force of the tree is so divided 
among the branches that it never recovers its pyra- 
midal character. The opposite of this has already 
been pointed out as the advisable practice in the 
nursery or young plantation, where a single leader 
only should be allowed to remain ; and the others, 
when they appear, should be removed or twisted 
down, so as to subordinate them. In case of injury 
to the leader, a little care may be taken to bend up 
to the vertical line one of the branches from the 
highest whorl, and it will become the leader; for 



pines. 245 

without such a spire young trees will remain a long 
time stationary in the nursery. This is particularly 
the case with the Silver Fir, JPicea pectinata, which, 
when so injured, will frequently stand for years with- 
out growing any taller. 

Trees of this class have an extensive range, but 
they are chiefly found in the temperate portions 
of the Northern Hemisphere. The lowest mean tem- 
perature necessary for the existence of the Abies is 
thirty-seven and a half degrees ; that for the Pinus 
is thirty-six and a half degrees. Humboldt found the 
Pines at the extreme limits of arborescent vegetation 
on the mountains of Mexico. Glennie found Pines on 
Popocatapetl to the height of nearly twelve thousand 
six hundred and ninety-three feet. Pinetums, or col- 
lections of the different species of this class, have 
been formed in many parts of Great Britain ; in some 
of which there are one hundred sorts. The nurseries 
of Messrs. Loddiges, in England, are said to contain 
the most complete collection. The Pineries of 
America are native collections of these trees, gen- 
erally composed of a very limited number of species 
and varieties. 

PINES WITH TWO LEAVES IN A SHEATH. 

The Pinus sylvestris, or Scotch Pine (see Plate VIL), 
is one of the favorite European species ; and as it 
succeeds remarkably well in this country, it will 
always be largely planted. There are many varieties 
of this, some of which are so distinct that they might 
well be mistaken for different species. In favorable 
situations, the Scotch Pine will grow eighty or one 



246 EVERGREENS. 

hundred feet high. The leaves are glaucous, and in 
pairs ; in young trees they are from two to three 
inches long. They do not drop from the tree until 
the fifth year. Hardy. 

Pinus pumilio, Dwarf or Mountain Pine, has its 
varieties also. All are smaller and less glaucous 
than the preceding : the leaves are thicker on the 
branches. This species is highly terebinthinate, hardy, 
and desirable as a dwarf-tree, only growing about 
ten feet high. 

Pinus PanJcsiana, or Labrador Pine, is also a 
low, scrubby, or straggling tree, rising only five or 
eight feet. Michaux says this is found further north 
than any other American pine. This is the Scrub 
Pine of Maine and Nova Scotia, and the Gray Pine 
of Canada. Franklin found this as far North as sixty- 
four degrees. 

Pinus inops, or Jersey Pine, a low tree with 
crooked branches : the young foliage is glaucous and 
tinged with violet. It grows from thirty to fifty feet 
high. The branches are irregular, not in whorls. The 
Jersey Pine is an American, and found on dry soils 
from New Jersey to Carolina. This tree preserves 
its lively green color throughout the "Winter, and is 
on that account of peculiar value in the Winter land- 
scape. 

Pinus mitis, or Yellow Pine, is a beautiful tree, 
fifty to sixty feet high. The leaves are four or five 
inches long, fine and flexible. It is found in the pine 
forests from New England to Georgia, growing on 
the poorest lands. This tree furnishes the yellow-pine 
lumber much used in civil and in naval architecture. 



pines. 247 

Finns pungens, or Table-mountain Pine, makes a 
tree forty or fifty feet high, with the habit of Sylves- 
tris : the young leaves are not glancons, and being of 
a paler green, the tree is less gloomy in its appearance 
than the Scotch pine. It is confined, says Michaux, 
chiefly to the Table Mountain, in JSTorth Carolina. 

JPinus laricio, Corsican or Larch Pine (see Plate VI.), 
has many varieties, which have been described. It 
forms a tall tree in Corsica, growing to the height of 
one hundred and forty to one hundred and fifty feet. 
The leaves are long, being from four to eight inches, 
according to the age of the specimen. This species is 
a native of Corsica, but is found in other parts of the 
Mediterranean, and according to some authorities, in 
other parts of Europe. It is a useful timber-tree, of 
rapid growth. Hardy as far north as Pennsylvania. 
A rapid grower. 

Pinus laricio Austriaca, Black or Austrian Pine, is 
much admired for its sturdy habit and yellowish- 
green leaves. It grows wild in Austria ; it prefers a 
loose soil. The heart-wood is tough and strong : it is 
the richest in turpentine of all the pines in Austria. 
This species succeeds well where planted in America, 
is quite hardy, and very valuable. 

Pinus laricio Pallasiana, or Tartary Pine, is a 
large tree, confined to the Crimea. Professor Pallas 
says the wood is knotty, resinous, and very durable. 
Mr. Lambert says it is well adapted to thin chalky 
soils and maritime situations. 

Another variety of the laricio is called Pyrenaica, 
from its locality. 

Pinus resinosa, or Red Pine, so called, says 



248 EVEEGEEENS. 

Michaux, from the color of its bark, forms a tree 
seventy or eighty feet high, with a trunk two feet in 
diameter. The leaves are five or six inches long, and 
dark green, collected in bunches at the ends of the 
branches. The wood is compact and heavy, from the 
amount of resinous matter. This species is rare south 
of the Hudson River, but abounds in ISTova Scotia. 
The planks of this timber are sometimes made forty 
feet long, and almost without a knot. This tree is 
worthy of extensive cultivation. 

Pinus pinaster, the Cluster Pine (see Plate I.), also 
has many varieties, as is apt to be the case with those 
trees that have an extensive range. The P. p. esca- 
renus and lemonianus are the only varieties particu- 
larly deserving of culture. The Pinaster is indigenous 
to the South of Europe, North Africa, Asia, the 
Himalayahs, and perhaps also to China. It thrives 
in deep sandy land, and is said to perish in calcareous 
soils. Immense tracts of barren drifting sand have 
been covered with this tree in France, which now 
yield abundant crops of inferior lumber, fuel, and 
pitch. Hardy. 

Pinus pinea, or Stone Pine, is a lofty tree in the 
South of Europe. The leaves are of a deep-green, six 
or seven inches long. The fruit is three years in 
ripening; the seed is larger than other pines — the 
kernel is white and sweet. The Stone Pine is a native 
of Italy, Spain, Greece, Barbary, and perhaps parts 
of Asia. Hardy. 

Pinus halepensis, Aleppo Pine, has several varie- 
ties that are not very distinct. These are not large 
trees, seldom exceeding thirty feet. The young plants 



pines. 249 

have spreading heads ; the old ones round heads, 
wider than high. The leaves are deep green, two to 
three inches long, and never remain longer than two 
years on the tree, which makes the foliage look open 
and sparse. 

Pinus hrutia, or Calabrian, has long, slender, wavy- 
leaves. It is a middle-sized tree, with spreading 
branches. 

PINES WITH THREE LEAVES IN A SHEATH. 

Pinus tceda, the Frankincense or Loblolly, is a lofty 
American tree, often attaining eighty feet, with a 
clear trunk of fifty feet and two to three feet in diam- 
eter, and a wide-spreading head. It is found on poor 
sandy lands from Yirginia to Florida, and comes up 
in old clearings. Michaux, ever mindful of the agri- 
cultural interests of his country, suggested the intro- 
duction of this tree — which delights in the exhausted 
sands of the New World — to aid the Pinaster in 
securing the blowing sands of Bordeaux. 

Pinus rigida, or Pitch Pine, varies in its height 
from twelve to eighty feet, according to the soil. The 
buds are always resinous, and the leaves vary in their 
length. The bark is thick, furrowed, and blackish; 
the tree is very branching, the wood knotty, and rich 
in turpentine. Michaux says, this tree abounds in the 
United States, except on the maritime border, and in 
the Mississippi Yalley. He found it as far North as 
Maine and Yermont, where it is a small tree. 

Pinus serotina, or Pond Pine, is thirty-five or forty 
feet high, the leaves five or six inches long. Pursh 
thinks this only a variety of the rigida. It grows on 

11* 




250 EVERGREENS. 



the edges of ponds and swamps from New Jersey to 
Carolina. 

Pinus jponderosa, or Heavy-wooded Pine, has leaves 
from nine inches to a foot long. Branches are regu- 
larly whorled, horizontal, and inclined to droop. This 
tree has a noble appearance, even when yonng. It is 
from the north-west coast of America. Hardy, and 
grows rapidly. 

Pinus Sabiniana, or Prickly-coned Pine, has long 
leaves, cones, large, persistent. This is another of the 
great pines of the north-west coast. Douglass found 
them from one hundred and ten to one hundred and 
forty feet high, and from three to twelve feet in dia- 
meter — not perfectly hardy at the North. 

P. Ooulieri, Coulter's, is from California. It has 
long leaves, grows one hundred feet high, has large 
branches and a spreading top. This is supposed to be 
a variety of Sabiniana. 

Pinus longifolia, a Nepaulese species. Leaves of 
bright green, from nine to eighteen inches long, very 
slender, and generally pendulous. Its favorite haunts 
are in the Himalayahs. It is too tender for planting in 
this country. 

Pinus Gerardiana, is another ISTepaul species, with 
short leaves. The seeds are eaten by the inhabitants 
of India. 

Pinus australis, or Southern Pine. The variety 
called excelsa is found in the Southern States, from 
Virginia to Florida. Michaux says, it grows from 
sixty to seventy feet high, and sometimes larger, in 
favorable situations, in Florida. The leaves are about 
a foot long, and brilliant green. This tree furnishes 



PINES. 251 

our resin and tar — turpentine being the fresh juice, 
and tar is distilled from the dead wood of fallen trees. 
This is the prominent variety in the pine-barrens of 
the South. 

Pinus canariensis is a tender species from the 
Canary Islands, where it forms extensive forests at a 
considerable elevation, thriving upon the volcanic 
rocks. 

Pinus sinensis, or Chinese Pine, with slender, spread- 
ing, grass-green leaves, live inches long. It is a large 
tree. 

Pinus insignis has grass-green, twisted leaves. It 
is as hardy as any of the Californian pines. 

Pinus teooote is a rare Mexican species, from Mount 
Orizaba, near Yera Cruz. 

Pinus patula, another Mexican species, from the 
cold region. 

Pinus llaveana is a very rare and handsome pine, 
from Mexico. It seems quite hardy in England. 

Pinus calif orniana. The Caiifornian Pines — the 
tuber oulata and radiata — are all from the neighbor- 
hood of Monterey, California. They form excellent 
timber, being large trees, a hundred feet high. 

Pinus occidentalism or West Indian, and P. Monte- 
zumce, are little known. 

Pinus leiopkylla, or Smooth-leaved, is from Jala- 
cinga, in the cold region of Mexico. 

Pinus cemhra, the Siberian Stone Pine, is described 
by Pallas as a lofty tree, straight, and often one hun- 
dred and twenty feet high. When standing singly, 
it is handsomely furnished with limbs that are disposed 
in whorls. This is an Alpine species, of very extensive 



252 EVERGREENS. 

range in Europe. The wood is soft ; it is used by the 
Helvetian shepherds to carve the toy animals that 
afford so much pleasure to the juveniles in all parts 
of the civilized world. Hardy. 

Pinus strohus, or Weymouth Pine is more fami- 
liarly known as the White Pine, in various parts 
of our own country, where it grows from Canada to 
Virginia. This is a tall tree, rising from one hun- 
dred to one hundred and eighty feet. The branches 
are in regular whorls ; and in young trees, and where 
openly exposed, they form a beautiful pyramid ; the 
foliage is pliant, leaves slender, from three to four 
inches long, of a light bluish-green. This is one of 
the most beautiful trees for ornamental planting. It 
has been sometimes troubled with aphis in calcareous 
soils. Universally hardy. 

Pinus excelsa, or Bhotan Pine, is a tall, handsome, 
pyramidal tree, with numerous ascending branches, 
disposed in whorls. Leaves, long, slender, and glau- 
cous green. The wood is soft, and furnishes quan- 
tites of liquid resin when wounded. The excelsa 
resembles the stvobus in many respects ; but is even 
superior to it as an ornamental tree. It grows well 
in the United States, and is perfectly hardy. In its 
native haunts, it attains a height of one hundred and 
twenty feet. 

Pinus Pambertiana, Lambert's or Gigantic Pine, is 
found in the north-west coast of North America, 
where it was discovered by Douglass, who says, it is 
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high, 
and sometimes nearly sixty feet in circumference. It 
is allied to P. strobus; the turpentine or resin that 



firs. 253 

exudes from trees partially burned is sweet, and is used 
instead of sugar ; the nuts are eatable. A hardy variety. 
' Pinus monticola, or Short-leaved Weymouth Pine, 
is a native of high mountains on the Columbia river, 
and in California. 

We now come to study another division of the Abi- 
etinae, that which gives the name to the family. 

THE GENUS ABIES. 

Abies exeelsa, the Norway Spruce Fir (see PlateYlII.), 
is one of the loftiest trees of Europe, growing one hun- 
dred and fifty and one hundred and eighty feet, with 
a straight trunk. This is one of the most beautiful 
pyramidal trees, and one that has succeeded admirably 
in this country. The branches and twigs are often 
beautifully pendulous when the tree has attained some 
size. This species is very characteristic, and there- 
fore peculiarly valuable in adorning the landscape ; it 
bears trimming, and therefore makes a good shelter 
and barrier hedge. Withstands the severest Winters. 

Abies alba, or American White Spruce (see Plate 
IX.), resembles the Norway, but is not so fine a tree ; 
this and the A. nigra, which has darker foliage and 
bark, grow in the Northern States, and where the soil is 
adapted to them, they may be planted advantageously. 
They do not, however, compare with the excelsa in 
beauty or usefulness. A. rubra is a variety of nigra, 
according to Michaux. Entirely hardy. 

Abies Smithiana, the Himalayan Spruce Fir (see Plate 
IX.), is a pyramidal drooping-branched tree, grow- 
ing fifty feet high. Branches verticillate, spreading. 



254 EVERGREENS. 

This lias been called the Rhutrow, and has been sold 
as the Pindrow pine : it has also been confonnded by 
some with the A. orientalis. Somewhat affected by 
severe "Winters in the Northern States. 

Abies Douglasii (See Plate X. A.), has flat leaves, 
more than an inch long ; cones, from three and three- 
fonrths to four inches long. It was discovered by Men- 
zies, and then by Douglass, on the north-west coast. A 
variety is called taxifolia, from the size of its leaves. 

Immense forests of A. Douglasii are found from 
latitude forty-three to fifty-two degrees. Menzies 
found it at Nootka Sound. Douglass says, the trunks 
vary from two feet to ten feet in diameter, and from 
one hundred to one hundred and eighty feet in height. 
He found a stump at Fort George, on the Columbia, 
which was forty-eight feet in circumference, at three 
feet from the ground. Hardy, with slight protection 
when young. 

Abies Menziesii, somewhat analogous ; has leaves 
set in every direction, short. It is a native of the 
north-west coast, and of Northern California. Is 
hardy. 

Abies canadensis, Hemlock or Hemlock Spruce Fir, 
is one of the most beautiful of American evergreens. 
The tree is tall, pyramidal, when in open grounds, 
well-furnished with slender limbs that decline grace- 
fully, forming a cone of perennial green, of a bright 
dark tint, that is very refreshing in the landscape, 
though it renders the dense forest of Hemlock rather 
gloomy or dark. This species is found in the coldest 
parts of the country, about Hudson's Bay, in Canada, 
and, at elevations, in North Carolina ; on limestone 



firs. 255 

cliffs beside the streams tributary to the Ohio ; but, 
strange to say, young trees, set in rich loamy clays, 
have been known to lose their leaves in cold Winters, 
like tender species; but is, under favorable circum- 
stances, everywhere hardy in this country. 

Abies dumosa, the bushy Alpine Spruce Fir, resem- 
bles the preceding ; it is a native of Nepaul. 

Abies cephalonica, the Cephalonian Silver Spruce 
Fir, growing in Cephalonia, is sixty feet high. The 
branches extend on every side, to a great distance, 
when the trees are not crowded. The leaves stand 
out on every side ; they are terminated by a brown 
prickle. Quite hardy. 

THE GENUS PICEA. 

JPicea pectinata, the European Silver Fir (see Plate 
XL), like all the tribe, is remarkable for the regu- 
larity and symmetry of its form. The heads of these 
trees are always pyramidal. The foliage may be dis- 
tinguished from that of the Abies by being more 
decidedly in two rows. The Silver Fir sometimes 
attains a height of one hundred and eighty feet, with 
a straight stem, with regularly whorled branches, that 
stand out horizontally. The leaves are very dark- 
green above, with silvery lines beneath. The Silver 
Fir is found upon the mountains of Central Europe, 
and in the West and North of Asia, approaching the 
elevation of the Scotch Pine. This tree has not been 
appreciated by our fast-moving people, as it is very 
slow in its growth during its early life, and the 
nurseryman often has to wait for several years before 



256 EVEBGKEENS. 

the central shoot begins to grow freely, being liable to 
lose its leader during the Winter ; but when it has 
greater age it is hardy and beautiful. 

Picea pectinata pendula is a variety of the above, 
quite hardy and distinctive. 

Picea pichta, the Pitch Silver Fir, is a native of the 
Altai mountains, where it forms whole forests ; at an 
elevation of five thousand two hundred and seventv- 
two feet it becomes rarer. Don considers this only a 
variety of the pectinata : the leaves are less silvery. 
Quite hardy. 

Picea halsamea, or Balm of Gilead, is the American 
Silver Fir. (See Plate X., B.) It is a pyramidal tree, 
resembling the pectinata, but seldom growing more 
than thirty feet high. "When standing alone it forms 
a regular pyramid, and small trees are very attractive 
in the nursery ; but in temperate latitudes, at least, it 
does not form a durable ornament to the landscape ; 
and I have observed, even in its native haunts at the 
North, that the old trees lose their beauty. This tree 
abounds in resinous matter, which is collected and 
known as Canada Balsam. The Indians use it for 
smearing their bark-canoes. Hardy. 

Picea Praseri, the Double Balsam Fir, resembles 
the preceding. Pursh found it on high mountains in 
Carolina. It is a smaller tree than the balsamea / its 
leaves are shorter and more erect. Hardy. 

Picea grandis is a noble tree of the same family, 
found growing one hundred and seventy to two hun- 
dred feet high. It is a native of California, where 
Douglass discovered it in low valleys. 

Picea amabilis, of Douglass, is very similar. 



firs. 257 

P'icea nobilis, Noble Silver Fir, has its falcate leaves 
mostly on one side of the branches. This majestic 
tree forms large forests in the northern part of Cali- 
fornia, and produces timber of excellent quality. 
Hardy in the latitude of New York. 

Picea Webbiana, Webb's Silver Fir, is a large 
pyramidal tree, with numerous branches that spread 
horizontally, are much divided, and are densely 
clothed with leaves ; they are disposed in whorls. 
Captain "Webb describes the leaves as an inch long, 
of a beautiful light-green, with a white stripe in the 
centre. The wood equals the Bermuda cedar in 
fineness of grain and in odor. The cones are purple, 
and yield a pigment by expression ; they are covered 
with globules of transparent resin, which render the 
tree very ornamental. It has appeared rather tender 
in England, being native of Nepaul. It is reported 
by Mr. Sargent, of Fishkill, N. Y., hardy in his 
latitude. 

Picea jiindrow, the Pindrow, grows eighty or one 
hundred feet high, with verticillate, spreading, and 
leafy branches. It has strong resemblances to Web- 
hicma, and Loudon thinks it will prove to be only a 
variety. It is hardy as far North as the Hudson 
River. 

Picea bracteata is a tall pyramidal tree of Cali- 
fornia. The bracts of its cones are furnished with 
leaves projecting from their margins. 

Picea religiosa was found by Humboldt on the 
lower hills of Mexico, at an elevation of four thousand 
feet ; it is remarkable for the slenderness of its twigs, 



258 EVEKGETCEN-S. 

and is used by the Mexicans for ornamenting the 
churches. Supposed to be hardy. 

CEDAKS. 

Cedrus libcmi has tufted perennial leaves. It is a 
native of Syria, on Mount Lebanon, and in Northern 
Africa on Mount Atlas. This plant is intimately 
associated with sacred history, and has sesthetical 
associations of a high order. The tree is widely- 
spreading, and rises from fifty to eighty feet. The 
branches being arranged in stages, nearer as the tree 
ascends, and those below being longer in proportion 
than those above, the tree has a broad head. The 
famed Cedars of Lebanon are claimed to be the very 
identical plants set by Solomon, in the quincunx 
order. They are visited by all travellers in Syria, and 
yet we have very different accounts even as to their 
numbers. This plant has been introduced into Eng- 
land and France long enough to have some very fine 
specimens, which show that it may be there produced 
in great beauty. Those in the United States are still 
of small proportions ; but some are large enough to 
satisfy us of the beauty of the tree, and of its adapta- 
bility to our climate, although while young it is some- 
what tender. 

Cedrus deodara. — The Deodar, or Indian Cedar, is a 
lofty and graceful tree, in the Himalayahs becoming 
one hundred and fifty feet high, and the trunk thirty 
feet in circumference. The leaves are paler than 
those of the Mbani, and of a glaucous hue. It is found 
in Eepaul and other countries of the Himalayahs at 



ARATJCARIAS. 259 

elevations of from seven thousand to twelve thousand 
feet. The feathery lightness of the young trees ren- 
ders them great favorites ; but the severe Winters 
in many situations in the Northern States have some- 
times seriously affected their appearance. When 
well established, however, they prove quite hardy. 

ARATJCARIAS. 

These magnificent trees are natives of South 
America, Polynesia, and Australia. 

Arauoaria imbricata. — In young trees the surface 
is covered by the leaves, which remain for twelve or 
fourteen years clasping the stem. The branches are 
in whorls, horizontal, and covered with imbricating, 
flat, and pointed leaves. The whole tree abounds in 
resin. The imbricata is native of the South American 
Andes. Its range is supposed to be between thirty- 
six and forty-six degrees south latitude. Its habitat 
is steep rocky ridges, where there is no water. This 
beautiful evergreen has proved hardy in England ; but 
it has not been universally satisfactory, on the score 
of hardiness, in the northern portions of this country. 

Arauoaria ~braziliana. — The general appearance of 
the Brazil Pine is very similar to that of the imbrica- 
ta; but the leaves are large, less rigid, and less imbri- 
cated. It is also more tender than the preceding 
species. 

Araticaria excelsa, the Norfolk Island Pine, is a 
most beautiful evergreen of this genus, still more 
tender than those before named. It is a majestic tree, 
rising from one hundred and sixty to two hundred and 




260 EVEEGEEENS. 



twenty-five feet, with a trunk eleven feet in diameter, 
and free from branches for eighty or one hundred feet. 
Young trees are remarkably beautiful"; their frond- 
like branches being very regular and graceful. It 
has been planted in Florida, by Messrs. Parsons, of 
Flushing Nurseries. 

The turpentine is found only between the bark and 
wood, and is of a milky character. 

Araucaria Cunninghamii, is a tall tree, growing on 
the shores of Moreton Bay, and elsewhere, in New 
South "Wales. 

Cunninghamia sinensis, the Chinese Fir, is a mid- 
dle-sized tree, having the general appearance of the 
Araucarias. It has proved hardy in England, and I 
have seen it planted in Baltimore, Md., on the grounds 
of Mr. "Winans ; but decidedly yellow, rather than 
evergreen, during the "Winter. 

Dammara orientalis, the Dammar or Amboyna 
Pine, furnishes the Dammar pitch. It has still less 
the appearance of a pine than the Araucarias. The 
D. occidentalis is a native of New Zealand, where it 
grows to a great size. Both these are tender. 

THE CYPEESS TEEBE. 

Plants of this order differ from those of the preced- 
ing group in their leaves. Many are small, and are 
all evergreens, except our own cypress, the Taxodium 
distichum. There are three leading genera, Thuja, 
Cupeessus, and Jtjniperus. 

Thuja occidentalis, the American Arbor Vitse, is a 
moderately-sized tree, of fifty feet in height, of rather 



CYPRESSES. 261 

slow growth. The leaves are small, opposite, imbri- 
cated scales, which have a peculiar essential oil that 
diffuses an agreeable odor when they are bruised. 
The trunk tapers gradually from the ground, and the 
branches are so arranged as to form a pyramidal tree 
with a broad base, the twigs are drooping, and all the 
branchlets have a flattened character. The wood is 
reddish, odorous, soft, and fine-grained, not very resin- 
ous, but of great durability. This is justly considered 
one of the best of American evergreens for general 
planting, on account of its adaptability to various 
situations ; since its native habitats are peaty swamps, 
and rocky cliffs, it will thrive in almost any situation ; 
and its conical figure, and rather free growth, make a 
good effect. One of the characters that recommend 
this tree is, that it bears clipping, and hence it is well 
suited for ornamental hedges, and wind-screens, for 
which purpose it is frequently used. Indeed, this 
species, the Abies canadensis, the Abies exceTsa, and 
the Juniperus virginiana, are, of the terebinthinate 
trees, those best adapted to this purpose. 

Thuja plicata. — The Plicate Arbor Vitse is a native 
of Mexico and the north-west coast of America, at 
Nootka Sound. It is a branching, spreading, low 
tree. The branchlets and leaves are closely crowded. 
There are several grades of difference between this 
and the preceding, so that this may prove only a 
variety. Not hardy. 

Thuja chilensis is a dark-green spreading tree, with 
drooping branches, crowded with branchlets at their 
extremities. It is a native of the Andes. Hardy. 

Thuja orientalis, or Chinese Arbor Vitse, which has 



262 EVEKGREENS. 

been classified as the Biota, lias its branchlets remark- 
ably two-edged and upright. This is a low, upright, 
fastigiate tree, native of rocky situations in China and 
Japan. There are varieties, one of which, the Tar- 
tarica, is more compact in its figure. This species is 
hardy in Scotland ; but in many parts of the United 
States it is inclined to become very shabby after 
severe Winters, though scarcely to be considered ten- 
der. Its fastigiate character renders it peculiarly 
prone to be parted by heavy snows, which injure its 
appearance sadly. There are few evergreens that 
present a more beautiful appearance in a young state 
in the nursery, where the rapid growth of the trim, 
snug, little, upright trees of beautiful green renders 
them very attractive ; but the older plants are very 
liable to become quite unseemly, and the foliage is 
often dull-colored, particularly in the Spring. The 
spray is often used as a back support in forming flat 
bouquets, and is also mingled with the flowers with 
good effect. If trained to a single stem with spurs, it 
may be trimmed constantly for this purpose ; for a 
succession of side branchlets will be produced from 
the laterals during many years. For general planting, 
either for single shrubs or for hedges, it should not be 
recommended. 

Thuja cupressoides, or Cypress-like — a native of the 
Cape of Good Hope — is not well known. 

Thuja pensilis is an elegant, much-branched tree 
from China, not generally known. 

Thuja pendula, or "Weeping Arbor Vitse, has 
filiform, drooping branchlets. The branches also are 



CYPRESSES. 263 

very long and pendulous. It is a native of Tartaiy, 
and is a beautiful shrub. Hardy. 

Callitris quadrivalvis is a tree of fifteen to twenty 
feet in height. It is a native of Mount Atlas and 
other hills on the Coast of Africa. In Paris it 
requires protection. Broussouet says that gum sanda- 
rach is furnished by this tree. The wood is odorous 
and balsamic, and is supposed to be the sandal-wood 
of the Orientals. 

Cupressus sempervirens, the Evergreen Cypress, is 
a tapering, cone-like tree, with upright branches that 
grow close to the trunk, like those of a Lombardy 
poplar. The branchlets are dichotomous, and covered 
closely with imbricated scales or leaves, which are 
yellowish green, shining, and remaining on the tree 
five or six years. It is a native of the islands of the 
Archipelago, and is mentioned in the Bible. The 
gopher-wood used in the construction of the Ark, is 
supposed to have been the cypress. It was very 
highly esteemed by the ancients, on account of its 
balsamic odor and its durability. The Turks plant it 
in their cemeteries, and these sometimes extend for 
miles and resemble forests, from the number of these 
trees planted at the graves. The Evergreen Cypress 
is planted considerably in England ; but is scarcely 
hardy in Paris, where it is sometimes killed to the 
ground. In some of our Southern States it has been 
found to thrive. It cannot produce a grand effect in 
masses ; but may sometimes be advantageously planted 
in rows, or singly, to break an outline of round-headed 
trees. 

Cupressus thyoides, or "White Cedar, is a tree of 



264 EVERGREENS. 

eighty feet in height; when grown closely, they have 
long, straight stems, clear of branches. The wood is 
soft, and fine-grained, and assumes a rosy hue. In its 
native haunts in this country, the White Cedar grows 
in wet grounds near the sea-coast, from New Jersey 
to Virginia ; in the latter State, it constitutes the chief 
timber of the Dismal Swamp, mingled with the Deci- 
duous Cypress. This can not be considered a very 
ornamental plant, though, from the durable quality of 
its wood, it is a highly useful one. For cooperage, 
joinery, and particularly for shingles, it is highly 
prized ; roofs of this cedar will last thirty or forty 
years ; fence-rails made from young trees keep sound 
for fifty or sixty years. 

Cupressus lusitanica, the Portuguese Cedar, is a 
native of Goa, East Indies ; it is a branching tree, 
growing fifty feet high. This is a very handsome 
low tree, with pendulous branchlets, covered with a 
glaucous foliage. It cannot be considered quite hardy. 

Cupressus torulosa, the Bhotan or Twisted Cypress, 
is a native of J^epaul. This is a beautiful pyramidal, 
much branched evergreen. It has been found on the 
Himalayahs, at an elevation of eleven thousand Hye 
hundred feet. It appears tolerably hardy in England. 

Cupressus pendula, or Weeping Cypress, has a 
large, expanded head, with very pendulous branchlets, 
closely covered with leaves. It is a native of China. 
One of the most beautiful of small trees. Hardy. 

Taxodium distichum, though not an evergreen, is 
here named on account of its being one of the noble 
forest trees of our own country, which is one of the 
same family ; indeed, it is known as the Cypress among 



PLATE VI 




PIN US LA HI CIO. 

The Corsican or Larch Pine.— (See Page 24T.) 



PLATE VII 




PINUS SYLVESTRIS. 

The Scotch Pine.— (See Page 245.) 



PLATE VIII. 




ABIES EXCELSA. 

The Spruce, Fir.— (See Page 253.) 



PLATE IX 








PLATE X 




{'* JW 




PLATE XI. 




PICEA PECTIN ATA. 

European Silver Fir.— (See Page 255.) 



CYPRESSES. 265 

us, though deciduous. When young, it is pyramidal ; 
but when old, in the forests, the tree assumes a wide- 
spreading flat top. The trunk becomes very thick, 
often forty feet in circumference. The wood is fine- 
grained and of a reddish color, it is strong and elastic, 
less resinous than the pines. Branchlets are very 
slender, elegantly pinnate, the foliage is open, light, 
and of a fresh tint that is very agreeable, the leaves 
being small and graceful, becoming red in the Autumn, 
when they fall. The favorite habitat of the American 
Cypress is the swamps of the Southern States, where 
the trees are immersed for months under water. The 
roots of large trees are furnished with conical protu- 
berances, called knees. 

The northern limits of the Cypress are in Delaware, 
latitude thirty-eight degrees fifty minutes, and on the 
lower portions of the Ohio river, in latitude thirty- 
seven degrees thirty minutes. Though naturally a 
lover of wet places, this tree has a remarkable facility 
for adapting itself to elevated positions, even those 
that are dry ; but when so situated, it is not likely to 
fruit. Mr. Loudon has stated that it would not thrive 
in elevated situations ; the contrary is well established. 
The range of the plant, as already mentioned, is north 
thirty-eight degrees fifty minutes, thence extending 
along the Atlantic and Gulf coast, some three thou- 
sand miles ; but it has been found to do well north 
and south of these limits, as in Scotland and in Mex- 
ico, into which latter country, Humboldt says it was 
introduced before the invasion of the Spaniards ; the 
noble tree in the garden of Montezuma is supposed to 
be more than four hundred years old. 

12 



266 EVERGREENS. 

Taxodium sempervirens. This evergreen was dis- 
covered by Menzies on the north-west coast of North 
America ; it will probably prove hardy as far north 
as Baltimore. 

Taxodiumcapense is from the Cape of Good Hope ; 
it requires the protection of a greenhouse in northern 
latitudes. 

JUNIPERS. 

Juniperus communis has many varieties of form 
and foliage. It is generally a bushy shrub, from three 
to five feet high, sometimes more. The variety 
/Suecia, is commonly cultivated ; it is a native of Swe- 
den, Denmark, and Norway. It is more erect than 
the common kind, and has larger berries. It grows 
to ten, twelve, or more feet high. Hardy. 

Juniperus communis depressa, is a native of the 
Northern States ; it does not grow more than a foot 
or two in height ; but spreads its branches along the 
ground in every direction, forming a circle of fifteen 
or twenty feet in diameter ; all of the spray rises gra- 
dually and regularly from the level of the ground at 
the circumference, to the greatest altitude, in the 
centre. These specimens, as they present themselves 
on the unfrequented margins of our Northern lakes, 
are often as regular and perfect as though they had 
been most carefully tended by the gardener. The 
Common Juniper, in its native habitat, is a low shrub, 
seldom rising more than three feet ; but under culti- 
vation it may be more fully developed ; Loudon gives 
a portrait of a tree twenty feet high, and five feet 
eight inches in circumference. This plant is found in 



JUNIPEKS. 267 

all the northern parts of Europe, and in very elevated 
situations in the southern countries ; it grows in rocky 
places in Canada and the Northern States ; but it is a 
question whether the Common Juniper has not been 
introduced. The variety, depressa, is undoubtedly a 
distinct species. 

Juniperus oxycedrus is closely allied to the com- 
munis / it is a shrub from ten to twelve feet high, 
and feathered from the ground, but more tender, 
being a native of Spain, Portugal, and the South of 
France. 

Juniperus macrocarpa is a native of Greece ; it 
resembles the oxycedrus, but is a low, thick bush. 

Juniperus drupacea is also a large-fruited species. 
The stem is erect, with spreading branches ; it is a 
native of Syria. 

Juniperus virginiana, or Red Cedar, is one of our 
own most valuable ever-green trees ; nothing can 
exceed its value, for purposes of shelter, to the Ameri- 
can agriculturist in the Middle States. It grows from 
forty to forty-five feet high ; the branches spring 
horizontally and low down the tree. The wood is 
fragrant, compact, fine-grained, and light, though 
heavier and stronger than that of the White Cedar or 
Deciduous Cypress. Cedar Island, in Lake Champlain, 
lat. 44:° 25', is its northern boundary, Cape Florida 
its southern ; it is found along the Gulf of Mexico to 
beyond St. Bernard's Bay, making its range more than 
three thousand miles. It also grows in many spots 
upon the calcareous rocks of the Western States ; and 
though not there a common plant, it is disseminated, 
directly, by man, as a planter, and indirectly, through 



268 EVERGREENS. 

his agency, by the birds — for in many places it is 
making its appearance in old fields, and even in the 
original forests where the seeds have been thns intro- 
duced. As an ornamental tree or large shrub it is of 
great value for grouping, and especially for shelter. 
This plant is highly esteemed in Europe, but quite 
too much neglected in our own country ; perhaps, 
because it is so common : its growth is rapid, and it is 
very hardy. The shelter and food which this cedar 
affords to the feathered friends of man are a great 
recommendation to it, and should induce every farmer 
to plant the tree. The wood is red, fragrant, soft, and 
fine-grained, and often used in architecture and the 
domestic arts ; but the frequent knots impair its use- 
fulness for some purposes. There are several varieties 
of this species, among which that called humilis is 
remarkable for its prostrate character, if indeed the 
plants on Lake Huron be not a variety of Savin. The 
trees in Maryland, between Baltimore and Washing- 
ton, assume an exceedingly regular, pyramidal shape, 
and remind the observer of the Oupressus semper- 
virens. 

Having said thus much in regard to a favorite tree, 
while urging my fellow-countrymen not to neglect 
the culture of this very useful and ornamental ever- 
green, a suggestion may here be allowed with regard 
to trimming — which, however, has been perhaps suffi- 
ciently urged in the general remarks upon this sub- 
ject. 

The lowest branches should always he the longest. 

JVever " trim wp" an evergreen^ unless the lower 



JUNIPERS. 269 

tranches have become shabby from neglect or abuse. 
Extending upper branches should be shortened-in. 

Juniperus bermudiana is a tall tree in the Bermu- 
das. The wood is very fragrant. Tender in the 
North. 

Juniperus sahina, or Savin, is a low shrub, but 
sometimes has an upright trunk, rising ten or twelve 
feet. The branches are nearly straight, and much 
ramified, forming a regular low pyramid. Savin is a 
native of Spain, Italy, part of France, and the Levant. 
Pallas also refers it to the Toicrian chersonesus. The 
upright Savin was formerly much used in topiary- 
work, as this kind of torture does not injure it ; but it 
is hoped that this style of ornamentation will not be 
considered appropriate to modern ornamental or land- 
scape gardening. In France, it and the Common 
Juniper are both used to cover walls and other objects 
that need to be concealed ; to which end, the trailing 
varieties are peculiarly appropriate. 

Juniperus daurica is a native of Siberia, a pros- 
trate shrub, trailing upon the rocks. 

Juniperus phcenicea is a pyramidal shrub : leaves 
very small. Loudon says it deserves to be more gen- 
erally planted. It is from the Levant. 

Juniperus lycia.— 'Pallas says it is perfectly pros- 
trate in Siberia, the Levant, and the South of Europe. 
This Juniper furnishes the Gum Olibanum, supposed 
to be the incense used by the ancients, and now 
employed in Roman Catholic churches. It is said to 
be hardy in England. 

Juniperus thicrifera, the Spanish or Incense Juni- 
per, is a native of Spain and Portugal — a low, ever- 
green tree. 



S t 2 EVERGREEN'S. 

Jwmipems excdsa^ the Tall juniper, found in 
Siberia by Pallas, on the Rocky Mountains by Lewis 
and Clarke, and also on the Tfimal ayahs. This k a 
verr handsonie and elegant tree, with an upright 
trunk, and slightly pendulous branches. Hardy. 

Juniperu* mguamata is a trailing shrub, called the 
Creej ing Cedar or Scaled Juniper, found in Xepaul — 
supposed fcc ': s :ender. 

Jan iperus recurva is another native ■::' Xepaul — a 
graceful bush, with pendulous hat::. 

■J.uviperus reoifera is from Cape Horn, and is 
believed to be the only species in the Southern 
Hemisphere. It is a decumbent and much-branched 
shrub. 

J.niperm d>: sis. the Barb: ioee Juniper, is 

a native of the ~^V~es: Lidie?. and. according to Pursh, 
of Florida. It is a large timber-tree, with very 
widely-spreading branches. Tender. 

J Hiperus chinensis. the Chinese Juniper, is a shrub 
of three feet in height, with twisted and very spread- 
ing branch—. 

Ti :yjfa. the Yew. is a smad bush or tree of 

great beautv. on account :: i: ; dark-green, lanceolate 
leaves, and bright-scarlet coal-like berries. The Yew 
is indigenous to the most of Europe, to parts of Asia, 
and one species, the rtmadt u - : . is found in America : 
this last is not very well characterized as a distinct 
species : it is a trailing shrub, never rising much from 
the ground. Some of the varieties :: Yew are quite 
a b "istinct : the ~: . i t . . or Irish Yew. is remarkable 
for its upright figure. The Yew has been much 
planted in old church-yards, in some of which it is 






PLATE XII. 




MAGNOLIAS. 271 

questioned whether the trees or the church be the 
elder. Evelyn recommends the Yew for hedges, and 
for topiary ornaments. 



OTHEE EVERGREENS, NOT TEREBINTHINATE. 

Magnolias. — The M. gvandiflora (see Plate XII. A.) 
is one of the most beautiful evergreens of the Southern 
United States, rising to a height of from forty to sixty 
feet in favored localities ; it forms a rounded pyramidal 
head, well covered with large coriaceous shining 
leaves of great size and beauty — among these, in fine 
contrast, the very large, pure- white flowers appear, 
and diffuse a delicious perfume that is almost oppres- 
sive at night, if the tree be planted too near a 
dwelling. This is deservedly a great favorite in the 
Southern States ; but it is not sufficiently hardy to 
stand the climate of latitude forty degrees, though it 
has bloomed on that parallel ; it is doubtful whether 
it will repay for cultivation north of thirty-five de- 
grees. Its natural limits are still further south. 
Several varieties have been originated or disseminated 
in the European nurseries, among which the Exmouth 
is the most desirable. 

TheM. glauca (see Plate XII., B.) is a smaller species, 
forming only a slender tree, sometimes attaining the 
height of fifteen feet. The leaves are smaller than 
those of M. grandiflora / they are of a glaucous green, 
and are partially deciduous; but, under favorable 
circumstances, this may be considered an evergreen. 
The flowers are creamy- white, and very sweet-scented : 
the natural habitat of the plant is low marshy ground, 



272 EVERGREENS. 

near the sea-coast ; but, like many other swamp 
plants, it bears an elevated situation, if not too dry. 
There are varieties of this species, the result of acci- 
dent, or possibly of hydridizing ; some of which have 
a larger foliage than the true M. glauca. Thomson's 
is supposed to be a hybrid between M. glauca and 
the tripetala, a deciduous species. The range is exten- 
sive, beiug fonnd in Massachusetts, and along the 
Atlantic coast to Florida ; but most common in JSTew 
Jersey and the Carolinas. 

Mahootas. — M. aquifolium, or Holly-leaved Bar- 
berry, is one of the most beautiful low evergreens, pecu- 
liarly adapted for planting around and under a group of 
other trees. It produces an abnndance of yellow 
flowers, in upright racemes, early in the Spring. As 
it belongs to the north-west coast of America, we 
should expect it to be perfectly hardy ; but in the 
Middle States its beantiful leaves are often injured 
during the Winter. There are several varieties, and 
perhaps some other species, sold nnder this name. 

The Pittosporu??i tobira is a half-hardy evergreen, 
with entire leaves, somewhat lanceolate. In its 
native country, it sometimes attains a height of twelve 
feet. The flowers are creamy-white, in clusters, 
appearing from March to August. In the Southern 
States, it may be treated as a hardy plant ; in the 
Northern, it needs the protection of a glass-house. 

Camellias. — The Camellia genus embraces elegant 
evergreen shrubs, with dark coriaceous shining leaves, 
that are remarkably persistent. The Camellia is char- 
acterized by the remarkable beauty of its flowers, which 
occur duringWinter. It is hardy in some of the Southern 



CAMELLIAS ORANGES HOLLIES. 



273 



Fig. 12. 



States. The varieties produced by culture are among 
tjie most beautiful flowering plants we possess. They 
need shelter, with very little heat, in the Northern 
States ; but some have been found hardy, even in the 
south of Scotland. The 0. japonica is the species 
cultivated ; it was derived from China. 

The Orange, Citrus, is a native of India, well 
known and much admired for its foliage and fruit. 
This tree has been cultivated in the Southern States, 
but has never become acclimated, and is occasionally 
cut to the ground by Winter frosts ; it has many 
varieties. The limonia is from the Himalayahs, and 
grows at considerable elevations at Nepaul; but it 
is not more hardy than the Citrus. 

Hollies. — The Holly, Ilex aquifolium, and other spe- 
cies, are among 
the most beauti- 
ful shrubs, some- 
times becoming 
trees. In Eu- 
rope, the Holly 
sometimes at- 
tains thirty feet 
elevation ; in the 
Southern States, 
it is often twenty 
eight feet high. 
A great many 
varieties are sold 
by the garden- 
ers — which are 
often produced from sprouts ; they are variegated, and 

12* 




ILEX AQtriFOLITTM. 



274 



EVERGREENS. 



Fig. 13. 



have variously contorted leaves : none are so handsome 
as the original species, whether the European or Ameri- 
can. For ornamenting grounds as single specimens, or 
for making evergreen hedges, few plants surpass the 
Holly, with its armed green leaves and bright-red ber- 
ries. The Ilex aquifolium (see Fig. 12) is native in Mid- 
dle and Southern Europe ; the 
I. qpaca (see Fig. 13), in the Mid- 
dle and Southern States of the 
Union; they both prefer low 
grounds of a sandy character. The 
Holly has been celebrated in his- 
tory and poetry, and has many as- 
sociations of an agreeable charac- 
ter. Evelyn had a hedge of it four 
hundred feet long, nine feet high, 
and five in diameter, within the 
protection of which he could dis- 
course with his loves, the trees. 
The Holly bears clipping remark- 
ably well, and hence it has been a favorite tree with the 
old-fashioned gardeners, who exercised their artistic 
skill in carving animals, griffins, columns, and various 
figures — some of them of the most grotesque appear- 
ance — from these trees. This style of ornamental 
gardening has given way to a better taste, that can 
admire the natural forms of beauty everywhere 
prevalent. 

The Holly makes the most impenetrable hedge, and 
also the most durable, as it is a long-lived tree. It is 
seldom attacked by insects — as most deciduous trees 
are. The great objection to the Holly for this purpose 




ILEX OPACA — OPAQUE-LEAVED 
LAT7EEL. 



CASSINE WINTER-BEERY FURZE BROOM. 275 

is, that it is ^ very slow growth ; but its durability 
and excellence may be urged as an offset. There are 
nolly hedges in France that are two centuries old. 
As an ornamental tree, it has few superiors. The 
soil best adapted to this plant is sand, or sandy loam, 
and we find that it does not succeed well in the stiff 
limestone clays that abound in many parts of the 
country. Neither does it bear transplanting as well 
as some other species. 

Cassine — Ilex Cassine is a low, evergreen tree, of 
Carolina and Florida, and some other Southern States ; 
it is planted about Mobile — as I learn from Mr. De 
Forest Holley, an ardent admirer, and successful pro- 
pagator, of our American evergreens. The leaves are 
small, like the Arbutus ; but the berries are large in 
proportion, red and persistent during the Winter — as 
they are not eaten by the birds, they produce a pretty 
effect. Other species of Ilex are found in the South- 
ern States, some of which have merit ; but they are 
not so well known. 

The Prinos glccber, or Winter-Berry, is a handsome 
shrub, growing three or four feet high, and bearing 
black berries, called ink-berries. It is densely covered 
with shining'green leaves. 

The Ulex, or Furze, is a branchy evergreen and 
spiny shrub, native of Europe, and growing on dry 
soils. The U. eurojpea is that commonly cultivated — 
it has not obtained much favor in the United States, 
as it is often killed in the Winter, though it grows 
well in Scotland, even on the elevated moors. 

The Spartivm junceum, or Spanish Broom, is a 
shrub with green twigs, and a few lanceolate leaves 



276 EVERGREENS. 

that drop off: its flowers are papilionaceous and yel- 
low. This plant is very much admired, though only 
a sort of half-evergreen. The Genistes, hispanica, 
anglica, and other species, are closely allied, and are 
also known as the hroom, being characterized by their 
branches and flowers — they are all sub-evergreens. 

Cratcegus pyracanthus, or Fiery Thorn, is an ever- 
green with dark foliage and bright-red berries, which 
occur in great profusion. It is a native of the South 
of Europe, and is particularly prized for covering 
naked walls. It needs a dry soil, as in damp clayey 
lands about Cincinnati it has sometimes been Winter- 
killed. 

The Photinia serrulate is a small ever-green tree 
from China. The leaves fall off in May, when they 
are of a dark and deep red, contrasting with the 
young foliage very beautifully. 

The Myrtle, Myrtus communis, is a common ever- 
green shrub in the South of Europe, about Marseilles, 
in France, and in Italy. Among the ancients, it was 
sacred to Yenus. It is cultivated with success in the 
Southern States ; but in the Middle and Northern, it 
needs the protection of glass. It is always a favorite 
evergreen wherever known, and much used in the 
ornamenting of temples and churches where attain- 
able. The Jews, at their festivals, especially, esteem 
that variety of the broad-leaved Myrtle which has 
three leaves in a whorl. 

The Ivy, Hedera helm, is an ever-green climber, 
which supports itself by rootlets. This is a universal 
favorite, and peculiarly appropriate to old ruins, walls, 
ancient trees, and cemeteries. The ruined towers and 



RHODODENDRONS. 



277 



antique monasteries of England would lose half their 
charms for visitors were they bereft of their orna- 
mental festoons of Ivy. This plant generally succeeds 
where it has been introduced into our country ; but it 
ias been found to suffer much from frost in stiff soils, 
and should be planted on a northern aspect. 

The Laurustinus, Viburnum tinus, is an evergreen 
with dark foliage and fragrant white corymbose 
flowers. It is a native of the South of Europe, hardy 
in Great Britain, but a green-house plant in the 
Northern and Middle States. It flowers from Novem- 
ber till April. This plant is used for forming low 
hedges in flower-gardens, where hardy. 

The Rhododendrons are a class of shrubs, usually 
evergreen, that are characterized by the great beauty 
of their flowers, and by often having fine foliage. 
They must have a sandy, peaty soil. The R. ponti- 
cum and its many varieties attract universal admira- 
tion as flowering shrubs. The R. maximum is the 
Bay of our own coun- 
try, where it is also 
known as the Large- 
leaved Laurel — it 
grows in mountainous 
places, from Canada 
to Carolina and Ala- 
bama. The R. cataw- 
Mense, from Caroli- 
na (see Fig. 14), has 
been much used to 
produce hybrids with 

the pontlCUm, which bhododendbon catawbiense. 



Fig. 14. 




2Y8 



EVERGREENS. 



Fig. 15. 



are more hardy than the Asiatic species. Rhododen- 
drons flourish best in shady situations, where decay- 
ing vegetable matter abounds. 

The Kalmias constitute a genus nearly allied to the 
Rhododendrons. They are low evergreens, and gen- 
erally known in this country as Laurels. They are 
found in peaty and sandy soils, and are much prized 
for their beautiful blossoms and bright evergreen 
leaves. The K. latifolia (see Fig. 15) forms one of 
the greatest ornaments of the 
mountain forests. It is fond 
of elevated regions of poor 
soil, and often grows near the 
water. The K. angustifolia, 
a small shrub, with dull foli- 
age and very pretty leaves, 
and other species, are of less 
value for planting than the 
latifolia: this, however, like 
the jRhododendrons,must have 
a soil that is adapted to its 
wants — nor will it thrive in 
lime-stone clavs ; though it kalmia latifolia— beoad-leayed 

-. ° KALMIA. 

may survive, and even bloom 

a few years, it soon dwindles and dies. A soil com- 
posed in large part of mould from the woods, or of 
rotten wood, is peculiarlyadapted to these plants. 

The Laurel — Laurus nobilis — or Laurel Bay. 
This is a large evergreen shrub ; it has large, firm 
leaves that are very aromatic. The flowers are 
yellow, particularly those upon the male tree. It is 
a native of the south of Europe and the north of 




LAURELS THE BOX. 279 

Africa, where it attains the height of thirty feet ; but 
in England, it is generally a rambling bush, abound- 
ing in suckers. In this country, it is apt to be frost- 
bitten north of latitude forty degrees, and therefore is 
less of a favorite here than in Europe. 

The Z. caroUnensis, or Carolina Laurel, is a native 
evergreen, found from Virginia to Louisiana — it some- 
times attains considerable height in the South, but 
never forms a handsome tree. The leaves are six 
inches long, glaucous, and evergreen. The swamps 
are its favorite habitat, and it is more beautiful fur- 
ther south than in Virginia. 

The Box, Bioxus sempervirens, is a well-known ever- 
green shrub, of great beauty. There are several 
varieties, belonging to the greater or tree sort, and the 
less or dwarf. The principal plants representing 
these classes are : B. sempervirens, var. arborescens 
and suffenticosa. The Box is much admired as an 
ornamental shrub. The larger kind seldom exceeds 
twelve or twenty-five feet in height, with a trunk of 
six or eight inches diameter, furnishing the boxwood 
for engraving and other purposes in the arts. The 
small, coriaceous, bright-green and shining leaves, are 
very persistent, and make this a beautiful evergreen. 
As the Box-tree bears clipping very well, the smaller 
is adapted to garden-edging, and the larger to hedges, 
particularly to subdivisions in cemeteries. This plant 
has furnished occupation and delight to the old-fash- 
ioned gardeners, who carved from it all sorts of 
verdant architectural and other designs. It is of very 
slow growth, but of great duration. The Box is native 
in Europe and Asia ; it is abundant in Turkey. 



280 EVERGREENS. 

The Box was much used in the geometrical style of 
gardening that formerly prevailed. Topiary-work, or 
the art of cutting trees into artificial forms, was much 
practiced among the Romans : Pliny uses the word 
topiarius as a synonym for gardener, showing the 
importance of this accomplishment to the horticul- 
turist of that day. Yerdant architecture and sculpture 
was much pursued in the seventeenth century. 

B. halearicus, the Balearic or Minorca Box, has 
paler and larger foliage of a less coriaceous character 
than the sempervirens / but in the shade, its color is 
deep-green. This plant is common in Turkey ; it is 
hardy in Europe — but in the Northern States, it can 
scarcely be so considered, though it lives out of doors. 
In the Southern States, it thrives admirably. One 
variety has striped leaves. This sport often produces 
branches with green leaves. 

Evergreen Oaks — are found in Europe as well as 
this country, where the Live-Oak and Water-Oaks 
lend such a charm to the Winter-landscape in the 
Southern States. The Querdus cerris, or Turkey Oak, 
in several varieties, as the Fulham and the Lucombe 
Oaks, are half-evergreen — from the latter, several 
sub-varieties have been produced that are more per- 
sistently evergreen than the parent variety. 

The Quercus ilex, Holen or Holly Oak, is an ever- 
green shrub or small tree in Southern Europe, Africa, 
and Cochin China. There are numerous varieties, pro- 
duced from seed. Some others are more or less ever- 
green. 

The Quercus virens, Green or Live Oak, is a mag- 
nificent American species, of great size and beauty. 



LIVE-OAKS RITSCUS. 281 

The timber is exceedingly valuable for ship-building, 
being very durable. The tree, familiar to all voyagers 
on the Lower Mississippi, when growing separate, or 
in small clusters, has a wide tufted summit ; Michaux 
says they attain forty-five or fifty feet. The leaves 
are oval, coriaceous, dark-green above, and whitish 
beneath. They are entire in old trees ; but in young 
specimens, often toothed and lobed. This species is 
confined to the maritime portions of the Southern 
States. It is found as far north as Norfolk, Virginia. 
The acorns are sweet, and were used by the aborigines 
as an article of diet. Michaux says the wood is 
stronger and more durable than the White-Oak, or any 
other sort — hence its value for ship-building. The 
Live-Oak will not make a fine tree in the Northern 
States ; but may be grown, in favorable localities, as 
a beautiful ornamental straggling evergreen shrub. 

Ceratolia ericoides is a small, heath-like evergreen 
shrub, found in North America, and cultivated in 
British gardens. 

Smilax aspera is an evergreen climbing shrub, with 
numerous slender, angular stems, armed with short 
crooked spines, and furnished with tendrils. It is a 
native of the south of Europe, Asia Minor, and Africa. 

Smilax excelsa is a climbing shrub, a native of 
Syria. 

Smilax rtcbens is a native of North America ; it is 
ornamental, from the contrast between the bright- 
green leaves of the red spiral tendrils that accompany 
them. 

Ruscus aculeatus, the Butcher's Broom, is a bien- 
nial, that holds its sharp-pointed leaves during the 



282 EVERGREENS. 

"Winter. This suffruticose plant has stiff stems, from 
one and a half to three feet high. The flowers appear 
on the upper surface of the leaf; but they really 
spring from the stem, being sheathed by the leaf. It 
is a native of Europe. It is used for brooms by the 
butchers. Its use in ornamental planting depends 
upon its power of growing in the shade, like the 
Mahonias / and it may be planted under trees with 
good effect. 

Yucca gloriosa. — This kind of Adam's Needle is 
native of the Southern States and the West Indies. 
Though hardy in the climate of London, it can scarcely 
be so considered in the Northern States. The flowers 
are white, bell-shaped, and beautiful, though scentless. 
The fibres of the leaves are used by the Indians for 
making cloth and strings. This species, and some 
others of the genus, have been cultivated in Florida 
for the production of cordage. 

Yucca superba has a more aborescent stem, and 
greater whiteness and density of the inflorescence. 

Yucca aloifolia is a palm-like tree — stem ten or 
twelve feet high, with a tuft of stiff narrow, light- 
green leaves ; slightly serrated, and having very sharp 
spines at their ends. This species is from South 
America ; it is more tender than the gloriosa. 

Yucca draconis has narrow leaves of a dark-green, 
and pendant ; it is a native of South Carolina : the 
flower-stem is sometimes ten feet high. It is hardy 
in England. 

Yucca stricta, the Upright Yucca, is found in 
Carolina — leaves narrow and long. # 

Yucca recurvifolia was found on the sandy shores 



YUCCA PALMETTO. 283 

of Georgia by Le Comte — the stem is about three feet 
high. 

Yucca filamentosa, the Bear-grass, has its leaves 
serrated and thready, without spines. The branching 
flower-stem rises five or six feet, and is covered with 
large white blossoms most of its length. This plant 
is native of Yirginia and Kentucky, and is hardy 
much further north. It has been recommended as an 
ornamental border to carriage drives, where it will 
answer as a sort of guard, as it is sessile, the leaves 
resting upon the ground. 

Yucca angustifolia has very narrow leaves. This 
is also stemless. It was found by Nuttall on the 
banks of the Missouri. 

Ohamcerops humilis. — This palm-like plant is not a 
dwarf, as it grows to thirty or forty feet. It is a 
native of the south of Europe ; but is not hardy, 
except in the Southern States. 

Ohamcerops palmetto, the Cabbage Tree, grows 
forty to fifty feet high — the stem has a uniform diam- 
eter, crowned with a regular and tufted head, com- 
posed of leaves of brilliant green, palmated and 
supported by large petioles that are triangular. The 
leaves are from one to five feet in diameter. They 
are folded like a fan before their development ; and 
while white and tender, are eaten as a salad. The 
Palmetto grows on the coast of Carolina and Florida, 
and the wood is used for making wharves, as it resists 
the attacks of sea-worms ; when submerged, it is 
durable, though very porous. For the construction 
of forts or block-houses, it was found that this porous 
tissue yielded to the cannon balls, and closing after 



284 EVEKGEEENS. 

them left no rents. The leaves make cheap and light 
fans and hats. 

Arundinaria macrosjpernna. — The Cane is, in its 
native State, a very beautiful evergreen upon the 
sandy bottoms and islands of our southern rivers, and 
well worthy of culture as an ornamental plant, in 
soils and situations adapted to it. This plant has 
rapidly disappeared from many places where it once 
flourished, as on the banks of the Ohio and many of 
its lower tributaries ; and is also less abundant even 
on the Mississippi, in consequence of the planters 
selecting cane lands for their productiveness under 
tillage. 

Agave Americana, or American Aloe, is native of 
the tropical parts of South America. It has been 
introduced into the warmer parts of the Old World, 
where fences are made of it. Its leaves furnish a 
thready fibre, and a juice that is fermented — also a 
substance analogous to soap. It has stood the climate 
of Devonshire, England, and blossomed. The plant 
there attained its full dimensions — eleven feet in 
height, and sixteen feet in diameter — in twenty years, 
when it threw up a flower-stem twenty-seven feet 
high, and bore sixteen thousand blossoms. The Aloe 
develops itself grandly in the Southern States ; but in 
the Northern, must be kept in a conservatory. 



LIST OF DESIRABLE EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS, 



NAME. 



Abies alba. White Spruce, 

excelsa, Norway Spruce, - - - 

Canadensis, Hemlock, - - - 

Oephalonica, Ceph. Spruce, - 

Douglasii, 

dumosa. Bushy Spruce, - - . 

Menziesii, 

nigra, Black Spruce, .... 

rubra. Red Spruce, ----- 

Smithiana, 

Araucaria imbricata, Chile Pine, - 
Aucuba Japonica, Gold Tree, - - - 
Bwxus sempervirens, Common Box, 

balearica, 

arborescens, Tree Box, - - - 

Cedrus Libani, Cedar of Lebanon, - 

deodara, Deodar Cedar, - - 

Cotoneaster microphylla, - - - - 

Cryptomeria japonica, 

Cupressus torulosa, Twisted Cypress, 

sempervirens, Evergreen 

Cypress, 

— thy aides, 

lusitanica, 

funebris, 

Eleagnus argentea. Silver Tree, - - 

Hedera helix, Ivy, 

Ilex opaeca, American Holly, - - - 

aquifoliivm, European Holly, - - 

variegatum, 

Juniperus communis, com'n Juniper 

mrginiana. Red Cedar, - 

suecica, Swedish Juniper, 

depressa, 

Sabina, The Savin, - - - 

daurica, 

excelsa, 

Kalmia latifolia, Sheep Laurel. - - 

angustifolia, narrow leaved, 

Laurus nobilis, Sweet Bay, - - - - 

Carolinensis, 

Mahonia aquifolia, 

Magnolia grandifolia, 

glauca, 

Myrtus communis, Common Myrtle, 
Picea balsamea, Amer. Silver Fir, - 

pectinata, comb-like Sil. Fir, - 

pichta^ pitch, Silver Fir, - - - 

frasert. Double Balsam, - - - 

Pinus Sylvestris, Scotch Pine, - - - 

pumilio. Dwarf Pine, - - - 

JSanksiana, Labrador Pine, - 

i?iops, Jersey Pine, - - - - 

mitis, Yellow Pine, -■-•-- 

laricio, Larch Pine. - - - - 



Feet high 

when full 

grown. 



40 to 50 

125 to 150 

80 to 100 

50 to 60 

100 to 180 

70 to 80 

70 to 90 
50 to 60 
50 to 60 



5 to 
10 to 
20 to 
20 

60 to 
80 to 120 

5 
50 
15 
50 to 60 

70 to 80 
50 
25 
12 



30 
30 
25 
10 
40 

12 to 
1 to 



REMARKS. 



10 to 12 



20 to 


2.i 


10 




2 




40 




60 to 


71 


8 




60 to 100 


20 




12 




20 to 


30 


130 to 160 


70 




20 




70 to 100 


12 to 


20 


5 to 


8 


30 to 


40 


50 to 


60 


80 to 100 



N. Amer., pyr., pale-bluish green, hardy. 
N. Europ. sprdg., pyr., dark green, hardy. 
N.Am., drooping, pyr., light green, hardy, 
spread' g, dark above, light ben'th, hardy. 
Oregon, dark green above, light beneath, 

hardy 
Nepal, tender N. of Phila. 
California, silvery green. 
N. Amer., dark green, hardy. 



Europe and Asia, hardy. 

half hardy at New York. 

hardy. 

spreading, slow growth, hardy. 

Himalayas, dark-bluish green, hardy. 



tapering cone, upright growth, half 

hardy. 
N. Amer., loves wet places, hardy. 
E. Indies, tender N. of Phila. 



climber, hardy, 
very valuable, hardy, 
hardy. 

evergreen shrub. 
N. Amer., hardy. 

hardy, branches spread 15 to 20 feet in 

diameter, 
hardy. 

Siberia, prostrate shrub. 
N. Amer., hardy. 
N. Amer., hardy, elegant flower, leaves 

dark green. 

Italy, tender at Phila. 

Carolina, tender at Phila. 

N. Amer., hardy. 

N. Amer., somewhat tender N. of Phila. 

N. Amer,, hardy. 

south of Europe, tender N. of Phila^ 

regular pyr., dark green above, silver 

white beneath, hardy. 
Europe and Asia, hardy. 
Siberia, hardy. 
Carolina. 

head conical, branched in whorls, hardy, 
spreading growth, hardy. 
N. Amer., hardy. 



regular pyr., dark foliage, hardy. 






LIST OF DESIRABLE E VER GREEN TREES AND SHR UBS. 

(Continued.) 





Feet high 




NAME. 


when full 
grown. 


REMARKS. 


Pinus resinosa, Red Pine, - - - - 


70 to 


SO 


N. Amer., hardy, dark green foliage. 


pinaster, Cluster Pine, - - - 


40 to 


fin 


Europe & Asia, pyr., rapid growth, hardy. 


pinea, Stone Pine, .... 


50 to 


so 


south of Europe, slow growth, hardy. 




30 to 

80 
70 to 


50 


rapid growth, sprdg. head, tender at N. Y. 
N. Amer., rapid growth. 
" hardy. 




rigida, Pitch Pine, ... - 


SO 


serotina, 


35 to 


40 


" hardy 




60 
100 to 




rapid growth, hardy. 
California. 




130 


Oembra, 


50 




slow growth, hardy. 


strobus, Weymouth Pine, - - 


100 to 180 


N. Amer., vigorous growth, hardy. 


excelsa, Bhotan Pine, - - - 


90 to 100 


Himalayas, handsome pyr., hardy. 








N. Amer., branches pendulous, hardy 


Prinos glaber, Evergreen Prinos, - - 
Rhododendron Catawbiense, 


6 


8 




N. Amer., hardy. 




12 












Bvartium junceum, Broom, - - - 


12 






Taxodiwm sempervirens, California 






somewhat tender at N. Y. 




100 

20 






Taxus baecata, Yew, 




hardy. 


Thuja occidentalism Am. Arbor Vitse, 


40 to 


50 


erect, hardy. 


orientalis, Chinese Arbor Vitse, 


18 to 


20 


light green foliage, hardy. 


plicata, 


30 




Mexico, hardy. 


vendula, Weeping Arbor Vitse, 


20 




tender N. of Phila. 


JTlexEuropea, Furze, 


12 






Yucca jilamentosa, 


3 




tender at the North. 


gloriosa, 


4 




" " " 


5 







INDEX 



PAGE 

Abies alba 253 

" canadensis 43,254,261 

" cephalonica 255 

" Douglasii 254 

" dumosa 255 

" excelsa. 42, 253, 261 

" Menziesii 254 

" nigra 43 

" rubra 43 

" Smithiana .253 

Abietinse, characteristics of 244 

Agave, hedges of 242 

Agave americana 284 

Alabama, laws regarding fences 154 

Althea 46 

Aloe, hedges of 242 

Aleppo Pine 247 

Andalusia, hedges of 242 

American Aloe 284, 241 

American Arbor Vitse 42, 240 

American Eed Spruce 43 

American Black Spruce 43 

American White Spruce 253 

American Silver Fir 256 

Appendix 169 

Araucarias 259 

Araucaria imbricata 259 

" braziliana 259 

" excelsa 259 

" Cunninghanii 260 

Arboretum britannicum 243 

Arandinaria macrosperma 284 

Arbor Vitse, Weeping , 262 

" Plicate 261 

" Chinese 42,261 

" American 42,240 

Austrian Pine 247 

Banksiana 46 

Barberry 45 

Barbadoes Junipera 270 

Barry, P., quoted 49 

Balm of Gilead 256 

JBerberis vulgaris 45 

Beech 48 

Bhotan Cypress 264 



PAGE 

Birch 48 

Bill-hooks 98 

Black Spruce 280 

Bourault Bose 47 

Bodark (Bois d'arc) 32 

Browne, D. J., quoted 39, 40 

Broad-leaved Kalmia 278 

Buckthorn 25, 30 

Buffalo-berry 32 

Bwxus sempervirens 43, 279 

" balearicui 280 

Butchers' Broom 281 

Cabbage Tree 283 

Cactus, hedges of 242 

Calabrian Pine 249 

California, laws regarding fences 164 

Calitris quadrivaVois 263 

Camellias 272 

Carolina Bose 33 

Castor Beans to keep away moles 61 

Catalogue op Eveegeeens 243 

Cedars , 258 

Cedrus Ubani 258 

" deodara 258 

Cedar, Portugese 264 

Cedar, Eed 240, 267, 269 

Cedar, White. 264 

Cephalonian Spruce Fir 255 

Ceratolia ericoides 281 

Cerasus Caroliniana 44 

Chamcerops humilis 283 

" palmetto 283 

Cherokee Eose 33, 46, 240 

Chinese Arbor Vitse 42, 261 

Chinese Fir 260 

Chinese Juniper 270 

Chinese Multiflora 46, 49 

Cincinnati Horticultural Society, Ee- 

portto 215 

Citrus 273 

Cluster pine 248 

Cockspur - 25 

Coniferous Evergreens 243 

Corsican Pine 247 

Connecticut laws regarding fences.. . .147 



288 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Cost of hedging 108, 111 

Cost offences 121, 172 

Coulter's pine 250 

Crab Apple 26 

Crataegus oxycanthus 24 

" pyr acanthus 49, 276 

" crus-galli 25 

Creeping Cedar . 270 

Cmminghamia Sinensis 260 

Cultivation of hedges, 1st year 79, 217 

" " « 271 

" " " 2d year'.'.'.'.'.'.!'. 83 

" " " 3d year 90 

" " 4th year 102 

Cupressinas 244 

Cupressus sempervirens 263 

" thyoides .. 263 

" lusitanica 264 

" torulosa 264 

" pendula 264 

Cydonia 49 

Cypress . 260 

Cypress, Weeping 264 

" Twisted 264 

" Bhotan 264 

" Evergreen 263 

Dammar a orientalis 260 

" occidentalis 260 

Deodar Cedar . 258 

Defects in hedges 116 

Dibble 97 

Distance of setting plants, 74, 79, 138, 

240, 217, 218 

Dwarf Box 44 

Dwarf Pine 246 

Economy of Hedges 17 

English Hawthorn 24 

English Tew 43 

Ernst, A. H., quoted 29, 39, 186, 203 

European hedging 130 

European Silver Fir 255 

Euonymus 240 

Evergreen Oaks 280 

Evergreen Hedges 240 

Evergreen Cypress 263 

Evergreens, Catalogue or 243 

Evergreens, transplanting 228 

" distance to plant 240 

" essay upon 223 

" as an ornament 223 

" for shelter 227 

" economy of planting 226 

" root-pruning of 229 

" time to transplant 232 

" landscape effect of 233 

" " trimming up " 234 

" grouping 234 

" for the South 235 

" pruning 235,241 

" manure for 231 

" terebinthinate 243 

'* not terebinthinate 271 



PAGE 

Fagus syVtatica 48 

Failure of hedges 50, 204 

False methods of hedging 126 

Fences, laws of the different States 

regarding 143 

Finishing hedge 95, 105 

Fiery Thorn 276 

Firs 275 

Fir, American Silver 256 

Fir, European Silver 258 

Florida laws regarding fencing 155 

Frankincense Pine 249 

Furze 275 

Gano, Daniel, letter from 202 

" introduced the Madura at Cin- 
cinnati 40 

Georgia laws regarding fences 154 

Gleditschia iricanthus 27 

Glory of Eosamenes 47 

Grouping Evergreens 234 

Hawthorn, English 24 

Hedge-making 67 

Hedge, setting 66, 69, 182, 217 

" shape of. 98 

" replanting 83, 73, 65 

Hedges in the West 14 

" reasons for 15 

" in the Bible 16 

" among the ancients 16 

" economy of 17 

" cost of Ill 

" beauty of 18 

" for protection 19, 23 

" " ornament 23,45 

" " shelter 23,19,41 

" effect on climate 19 

" morality of 21 

" choice of plants for 23 

" for the South 44 

" " screens 45 

" Prickly Pear for 241 

" of the Cherokee Eose 84 

Hedera helix 276 

Hemlock 48, 240, 254 

Hibiscus syriacus 46 

Holly 43, 240, 273 

Holly-Oak 280 

Holly -leaved Barberry 272 

Honey-Locust 27, 80 

Horse-power for trimming 98 

Horticulturist quoted 28, 125 

Hex opaca 43, 274 

" aquifolium 273 

" cassine 275 

Hlinois Farmer quoted 110 

Illinois laws regarding fences 160 

Implements 95 

Incense Juniper 269 

Indiana laws regarding fences 160 

Indian Cedar 258 

Iowa Farmer quoted 87 

Ivy 276 



INDEX. 



289 



PAGE 

Jersey Pine 245 

Junipers 266 

Juniperus virginiana 41, 267 

" suecica 43 

" communis 266 

" depressa 266 

" oxycedrus 267 

" macrocarpa 267 

" drupacea 267 

" bermudiana 269 

" Sabina 269 

" daurica 269 

" PAcenicea 269 

« lycea 269 

« thurifera 269 

" exeelsa 270 

" squamata 270 

" barbadensis 270 

" chinensis 270 

" revifera 270 

" recurva 270 

Jurisprudence of fences 143 

Kalmia angustifolia 278 

" latifolia 278 

Kennicut, John A 106 

Kentucky laws regarding fences 157 

Labrador Pine 245 

Landreth, D., quoted 243 

Landscape effect of Evergreens 233 

Larch Pine 247 

Laurel, Opaque-leaved 274 

" Carolina 279 

" Bay 278 

Laura Davoust 46 

Lauri Mundi 240 

Laurus ndbilis 278 

" carolinensis .. 279 

Zaurustimis 44, 277 

Laws on fencing ... • - - ■ 143 

Leader, remedy for loss of 23b, 244 

Zigustrum vulgar e 45 

Live-Oak 280 

Live-fences, history of 13 ^ 

Lilac • 46 Vines with three leaves in a sheath 

List of Plates and Engravings 11 

List of desirable evergreen trees and 

shrubs 285, 286 

Loudon, J. C, quoted 243 

Louisiana laws regarding fences 156 



Madura auriantica 82, 35, 173, 215 

Madura Hedge 50 

Madura, nativity of 216 

Magnolia grandiflora 271 

" glatcca 271 

McGrew, James 52, 66, 170 

Mahonia aquifolium 272 

Maine laws regarding fences 146 

Manure for evergreens 231 

Maryland laws on fences 142 

Michaux 243 

Michigan laws on fences 163 

Miller, E.. 88 



PAGE 

Mississippi laws on fences 158 

Missouri laws on fences 156 

Mock Orange 46 

Moles, to avoid the attacks of 61, 74 

Mountain Pine 245 

Mulching 74, 60, 80, 93, 94 

Myrtle 276 

Myrtus communis 276 

New Hampshire laws on fences 147 

New Jersey laws on fences — 149 

New York laws on fences 148 

Noble Silver Fir 257 

North Carolina laws on fences 153 

Norfolk Island Pine 259 

Norway Spruce 42, 240 

Nursery, hedge-plants in 62, 181 

Oaks, Evergreen 44 

Objections to hedges 120 

Ohio laws on fences 158, 182 

Old hedges made valuable 214 

Opaque^leaved Laurel 274 

Orange, Wild 44 

Osage Orange . .32, 35, 36, 107, 173, 194, 215 

Osage Orange hedges, value of .174 

Overman, C. E 36, 50, 58, 65, 106, 118 

Palmetto • -283 

Partition hedges 165 

Pennsylvania laws of fences 150 

Philadelphus grandiflora 46 

Photinia serulate 276 

Picea pectinata 255 

" pichta 256 

" balsamea 256 

" Fraseri 256 

" grandis 256 

" amabilis 256 

" ndbilis 257 

" Webbiana 257 

" Pindrow 257 

" bracteata 257 

" religiosa 257 

Pines with two leaves in a sheath — 245 

" . 249 

Pine~Eed 247 

" Austrian 247 

" White 247 

" Aleppo 246 

" Jersey , 249 

" Pitch 247 

" Larch 249 

" Pond 249 

Pindrow Pine 257 

Pinus syVoestris 245 

" pumilio 245 

" resinosa 247 

pinaster 248 

" escarenus 248 

" lemonianus. 248 

pinea. 248 

Banksiana 246 

246 
246 



mops, 
mitis . 



290 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Pinus pungens .'247 

" laricio 247 

" " austriaca 247 

" " Pallasiana 247 

" halepensis 248 

" brutia 248 

" tceda 249 

" rigida. , 249 

* serotina 249 

" ponderosa .250 

" Sabiniana .250 

" coulteri 250 

" Gerardiana 250 

" australis 250 

" longifolia 250 

" canariensis 251 

" sinensis 251 

" insignis 251 

" teocote 251 

" patula 251 

" llweana. 251 

*' californiana 251 

" occidentalis 251 

" leiophylla 251 

" cembra 251 

" strobus 252 

" excelsa 252 

" Zambertiana 252 

" monUeola 253 

Photinia serulate. 276 

Pittospomm tobira, 272 

Pitch Pine 249 

Pitch Silver Fir 256 

Planting seed of Osage Orange 216 

Plashing 105, 118, 192 

Plicate Arbor Yirtse 261 

Pond Pine 249 

Portuguese Cedar 264 

Prairie, hedges for 37 

Prairie Farmer 20, 21, 80, 197 

Prairie Eose 49 

Preface 5 

Preparation of hedge-row 67 

Prickly Pear, hedges of 241, 242 

Prickly Cone Pine 250 

Prinos glaber 275 

Privet 29, 45 

Pruning 79, 84, 99, 183, 206, 217, 235 

" roots 105 

" philosophy of 132 

Puddling. 65 

Pyrus coronaria 26 

" japonica 49 

Pyramidal shape for hedges 98 

Quercus cerris 280 

" ilex. 280 

" mrens 280 

Eed Cedar , 267 

Eed Pine 247 

Eeid, "William, opinion quoted 28 

Eeplanting hedge 66, 83 

Rhamnus catharticus 25 

Rhododendron ponticum 277 

" ma<&imum . 277 



PAGE 

Rhododendron catawbiense 277 

Eoot-pruning 105, 229 

Rosa lavigata 33 

Ruscus aculeatus.. 281 

Savin 269 

Scotch Pine 245 

Setting the hedge 66, 182, 217 

Seeds, selection of 55 

" sprouting 55,179 

" planting 59, ISO, 216 

Shepardia eleagnoides 32 

Shears 98 

Siberian Crab-Apple 48 

Silver Fir, Webb's 257 

" American 256 

" European 258 

Smilax aspera 281 

" excelsa 281 

" rubens 281 

Slashing-knives 96 

Sleeper & Lindley, letter from 215 

Sorting the hedge-plants 65 

South Carolina laws on fences - .153 

Southern Pine .250 

Spanish Broom 275 

Spanish Bayonet 33 

Spanish Juniper 269 

Spartium junceum 275 

Spring Grove Cemetery Hedge 217 

Stone Pine 248 

Summer-pruning hedges 91, 92 

Swedish Juniper 76, 43 

Sylca Americana 243 

Table Mountain Pine 247 

Tartary Pine 247 

Taxus baccata 43, 270 

Taxodium disUchum 264 

" sempervirens 266 

" capense 266 

Terebinthinate Evergreens 243 

Tennessee laws on fences 157 

Texas laws on fences 162, 270 

Thuja occidentalis 42, 260 

" orientalis 42, 261 

" plicata 260 

" chilensis 261 

" cupressoides 262 

" pensilis 262 

" pendula 262 

Transplanting evergreens 228 

Transplanting hedge-plants 63, 66 

Tree, Box 44 

Trenching-in the hedge-plants 65 

Trimming evergreen hedges 241 

" Trimming up" Evergreens 234, 269 

Trowel for transplanting 98 

Turkey Oak 2S0 

Turner, J. D., quoted. .. .37, 111, 197, 200 
Twisted Cypress 264 

TJlex europea .....275 

Valley Farmer quoted 255 



INDEX. 



291 



PAGE 

Vermont laws on fences 147 

Viburnum tinus 44, 277 

Washington Thorn 3° 

Water Oak 280 

Webb's Silver Fir 257 

Weeping Arbor Vitaa 262 

Weeping Cypress 264 

Weymouth Pine 252 

Western Horticultural Review — 29, 74 

White Cedar 264 

White Thorn 29 

Wild Orange 44 

Willard, J. F., quoted 121 



PAGE 

Winter-berry 275 

Wintering the hedge-plants 64 

Wisconsin laws on fences 161 

Yellow Pine ... >•■%& 

Yew 43,270 

Yucca angustifolia • • • 283 

« aloifolia 33, 282 

" gloriosa 282 

" superba «jj» 

" draconis 28i 

" stricta 282 

" recurvifolia 282 

" filammtosa 288 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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